Child labor in California?

At Times of San Diego, we have regular staffers whose work you see frequently, along with a group of core contributors we trust to fan out throughout the region to bring you San Diego’s top stories.

We also work with a series of partners, some that focus on California, others on education, the military, healthcare and more. We’re trying something new today with one of those partners, Capital & Main.

The nonprofit publication conducted an investigation into the deeply troubling conditions faced by the child laborers who work the state’s fields, some in El Centro, not so very far away. It turns out children as young as 12 legally can pick our fruits and vegetables in California. The youngsters, many of them from migrant families, work the same long hours as their parents, often for less than minimum wage while being exposed to dangerous chemicals used in pesticides. And they do so with shockingly little oversight, so little oversight, one researcher said, that it “boggles my mind.” The specter of ICE looms too.

It’s an important two-part story, important enough that we are presenting it in Spanish as well.

Here’s the links to part 1 and part 2, in English. And here you can find part 1 and part 2 in Spanish.

Please tell us what you think about providing this Spanish-language option as we continue to grow at Times of San Diego and pursue new paths to delivering valuable journalism to as many readers as we can.