State labor regulators opened an inquiry after a Reuters report found that children as young as 12 were put to work at the SMART metal stamping factory in Luverne.

Hyundai subsidiary in Alabama focus of child labor investigation

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Children as young as 12 have been working at a Hyundai-owned factory in Alabama, report says

Many of the minors at the plant were hired through recruitment agencies, according to current and former SMART workers and local labor recruiters who spoke to Reuters.

Tabatha Moultry, 39, a former SMART employee, told Reuters that the plant relied on migrant workers to keep up with high demand and remembered working with a migrant girl who “looked 11 or 12 years old.”