Nobody But Us Chickens

 It is the year 2023. Robots now open our doors, remind us to feed the cat, suggest which television shows to binge. 

But we need sixteen year olds to render chickens? 

To be clear: Sixteen year olds are not supposed to be working in poultry plants. There are rules against that. Any company found to be in violation of this rule could face a federal fine of more than thirty thousand dollars per incident. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration will definitely be looking into the circumstances that found Duvan Tomas Perez screaming for help before he was crushed by heavy machinery. 

This was the third death at the Mar-Jac Poultry plant in Hattiesburg, Mississippi since 2020. To be more precise, this is the third death of a human being at the plant in the past three years. There was no immediate number of chicken deaths available. 

In February, the White House said it would be cracking down on the exploitation of migrant children in the workforce. Duvan immigrated with his family from Guatemala six years ago. A letter sent in April to meat and chicken purveyors urged them to analyze their supply chains for evidence of child labor violations. So let's just clear up any possible misconceptions: Nobody, young or old, immigrant or native born should be crushed by heavy machinery at a poultry plant. 

The optics will now most likely focus on Duvan and his family's immigration status. And the talk of "taking our jobs" will surface once again while we try and figure out why we can't keep our sixteen year olds safe. Regardless of their immigration status. Cleaning the shake machine at the local Dairy Queen can get pretty messy, but not life threatening. That's the kind of job a sixteen year old should have. Regardless of their immigration status. 

Unless there are already robots that can do that.