• Fox News contributor Charlie Hurt ignited controversy Sunday with a provocative suggestion to combat labor shortages by reviving child labor in agriculture, drawing criticism from all sides over the ethics, legality, and historical consequences of such a policy idea.

NEW YORK, NY (TDR) — A Sunday segment on Fox & Friends Weekend turned heads when panelist and longtime Fox News commentator Charlie Hurt suggested the federal government should permit children to work summer jobs in fields, citing labor shortages exacerbated by the Trump administration’s strict immigration policies. The proposal, framed nostalgically, was met with stunned silence — even from some of his co-hosts.

A Farm Tour Turns Political

The discussion began with Fox News host Rachel Campos-Duffy recalling a recent trip to a blueberry farm alongside Hurt, which the network had aired as part of a lifestyle segment. Campos-Duffy, who is Cuban-American and a vocal supporter of restrictive immigration policies, floated a surprising proposal.

“I would be totally fine with the government subsidizing labor so there’s more fresh fruits and vegetables,” she said, comparing the idea to existing ethanol and corn subsidies.

Freedom-Loving Beachwear by Red Beach Nation - Save 10% With Code RVM10

Charlie Kirk, another panelist and the founder of Turning Point USA, quickly interjected that government should not be subsidizing labor at all, prompting Hurt to offer a third solution: eliminate labor subsidies and restrictions on child labor.

A Proposal from Another Century

“You stop paying people not to work,” Hurt said. “Allow children to do it as summer jobs… Your government doesn’t allow children to work summer jobs in blueberry fields. It’s just mind-blowing to me.”

He invoked his own childhood experience pulling tobacco leaves — a task known to cause Green Tobacco Sickness due to nicotine exposure absorbed through the skin.

The idea that children could or should replace skilled migrant laborers in intensive agricultural settings drew a stunned reaction from Campos-Duffy, herself a mother of nine. Still, she quickly deferred, stating only, “It’s very difficult work.”

Legal and Ethical Backlash

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE THE DUPREE REPORT

Federal child labor laws prohibit most forms of hazardous agricultural work by minors. Children under 16 may not legally operate farm machinery or engage in most forms of industrial harvesting unless they are part of the farm owner’s family. Moreover, most major harvests occur during the school year, raising concerns that any expansion of child labor would directly interfere with public education.

While some remote agricultural districts — such as Aroostook County, Maine — have maintained traditional “harvest breaks” that align school calendars with crop seasons, those practices have sharply declined in recent decades due to mechanization. In modern operations, children are rarely, if ever, a viable substitute for adult laborers.

“There’s no way for children to replace skilled migrant farm workers without injuries, deaths, or a loss in education,” one labor rights advocate posted following the segment.

Policy Roots in Immigration

The broader issue underlying the Fox News panel’s discussion was the labor shortage in American agriculture, much of which is attributed to aggressive immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump. With over 130,000 removals conducted in the last year alone and enhanced scrutiny of H-2A visa programs, growers in multiple states have reported insufficient labor to bring in crops.

Rather than address visa reform or labor flexibility, Hurt’s proposal reverts to a pre-New Deal mindset — one in which child labor was both common and poorly regulated.

“What we’re seeing is less a serious policy discussion and more a rehashing of 19th-century labor norms,” said Dr. Eliza Crenshaw, a historian of labor rights at Georgetown University. “It’s neither practical nor ethical.”

A Nostalgic Fantasy or a Warning Sign?

The remarks also raised deeper concerns about the cultural direction of right-leaning policy discourse. Critics argue that calls to return to child labor — even in jest — reflect a broader shift toward undermining labor protections, dismantling public education, and reducing reliance on immigrant labor through regressive means.

“This isn’t about blueberries,” tweeted one critic. “It’s about resurrecting a desperate, servile class to fill jobs they don’t want immigrants to do.”

The idea of using children as a labor substitute is not just economically inefficient, experts say — it’s dangerous. Studies consistently show that adolescent workers suffer higher injury rates in manual labor jobs, particularly in agriculture.

Is reviving child labor really a solution — or a symptom of broken immigration and labor policy?

Follow The Dupree Report on YouTube

Freedom-Loving Beachwear by Red Beach Nation - Save 10% With Code RVM10