The number of Mexican Refugees began to rise in 2018, largely driven by Central Americans fleeing a series of complex crises including gang violence, poverty, political repression and natural disasters.

The youngest children in cotton and textiles factories were used as scavengers and piecers. Scavengers had the extremely dangerous job of picking up the loose cotton from under the machinery while the machines were still working. Piecers were required to lean over the spinning machine to repair threads.