14 Year Old Migrant's Dire Night Shift at Virginia Poultry Plant

At age 14, Marcos Cux was grievously injured while working the overnight cleaning shift at a Perdue poultry processing plant located in rural Virginia. He is one of countless migrant children living far from their parents and toiling in perilous jobs.

In communities akin to Marcos', this unsettling practice is an open secret, widely known and tacitly accepted by all who are aware.

The Kids on the Night Shift

By Hannah Dreier

Photographs by Meridith Kohut

Late one Thursday evening in February 2022, a young teen named Marcos, freshly turned 14, was bundled up warmly agnst the cold night. Dressed in emerald rubberized overalls and matching jacket that was somewhat too large for his sler frame, he packed steel-toed boots with two layers of gloves to prevent any risk of chemical burns, even from minor tears. While his household slumbered on, a cousin drove him out late at night to begin his cleaning duty at the sprawling chicken processing plant along an empty stretch of highway in rural Virginia. Set behind hedgerows and a high metal fence, this industrial complex was only half a mile away.

Hannah Dreier is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for The New York Times investigations team. Contact her directly at [email protected] or explore more about Hannah Dreier's work here.

A version of appeared in the September 24, 2023, issue on page 27 of the Sunday Magazine. Subscribers can access full articles by logging into their accounts here.

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All information provided is accurate as of September 24, 2023.
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