North Carolina is ranked as the 10th most impoverished state for children in the US. Over 40% of the Latino populations under 18 live in poverty in eastern North Carolina. Each family member must contribute resources, playing an essential role supplementing the household income. Many families work in the tobacco and produce fields, yet must ear additional income to survive. Migrant families need children to contribute to the income. As a result, children may suffer multiple consequences including absenteeism from school during harvest season, pesticide and tobacco poisoning and loss of family income. Migrant families seldom receive adequate medical care, proper protective gear, sanitary conditions and nutrition while working in the fields. Individuals may not be supplied with proper protective gear while working in the fields and/or simultaneously despite being exposed to harmful pesticides daily. Some families may view drug trafficking as a necessary alternative to the daily exposure to dangerous chemicals. Families may be living in the shadows of the law as undocumented, migrant workers; including those workers who are legal face issues of prejudice and discrimination, placing them in the assumed threat of deportation. However, illegal activity is a more optimal and expeditious method of contributing to their economic household. Thus drug trafficking is a seemingly more pro table and safer means for supplementing to the children, their family and o en their community. This systematic literature review will examine existing literature regarding drug trafficking among Hispanic Immigrants as a means of providing supplemental family income. From the perspective of the families, drug trafficking is a means of survival, which in turn ensures their overall health and can provide a channel for societal and economical advancement. Finding substantive research is challenging due to the illegal hiring of immigrants by farmers and corporations and the risks that are posed against the immigrant population and employers. Implications for social work practice are discussed and strategies for designing, advocating and implementing programs surrounding ethical issues that reduce the isolationism of the Hispanic Immigrant populations with the goal of establishing positive community supportive networks.
