he performed strength with his teeth, feats of strength with his teeth, lifting trucks. he claims to be endowed with biological make up and is ready to under go tests to prove it. more stories online for you. 24/7 at aljazeera.com. ♪ ♪ >> thanks or the joining us, i'm joie chen. making work pay. california leaders just cut a deal to make its minimum wage in the nation's highest $15 whe afternoon hour when it takes effect in 2022 and when

lawmakers sign off. but even mannin mandating a minimum wage doesn't make positive it reaches the workers. wage theft in many other workplaces, it is rampant and it cost workers as much as $80 billion a year. "america tonight's" christof putzel uncovers the unpaid work of many. >> translator: ilways imagined the u.s. to be a free and democratic country. i expected to see money everywhere. >> reporter: 44-year-old father and husband, he came here to new york in 2001 for what he hoped would be a better life. >> translator: it's not like i imagined. just like china the u.s. has its dark side, a lot of unfairness. it is a society with a lot of inequality. >> reporter: in 2007 he took job with an independent taxi company known as yes car working long hours.

so in 2007 you were making about $500 a week that i is tha? >> uh-huh. >> your pay was about $500. how many days a week were you working, six days? >> yes. >> six days a week about 12 hours a day? >> yes. >> do the math. he was working 72 hours a week earning $6.94 with no overtime. yes car brought his pay down to $5.55 an hour well below the legal minimum wage. >> that is significantly lower because in 2009 the minimum wage is $7.25. so that's a difference. that's a big difference. so it looks like you are owed quite a lot of money. >> translator: after a while i wasn't actually making any money and i realized i was basically working for free. the little money i did make just wasn't enough to make ends meet.

>> reporter: and he wasn't alone. in 2009, he and 20 other drivers filed a lawsuit against yes car for wage theft. they said the owner got away with underpaying them for years. by classifying them as independent contractors instead of paying them as hourly works. >> these drivers cannot be called independent workers. they are company employees with the right to minimum wage and overtime. >> joann loom is the executive director of the coalition for real minimum wage. >> upper west side? >> a lot of times people think of sweatshops as garment, third world countries. but we are saying right here in the united states all kinds of workers are being sweated. and one aspect of being sweated is being robbed of your wages. you can talk about raising the

minimum wage to $20 an hour, $30 an hour. but it's not going to be real in workers' lives unless the law is enforced. >> but the agency to enforce the law is struggling to keep up. >> we're here in upper manhattan, at the agency, because the agency is so backlogged it can take months or even years just for these claims to get investigated. we wanted to speak to someone from the state about these workers claims, alfonso david with only speak by phone. we asked him why his case was being so delayed? >> one of the practical situations is it's being delayed, i would suspect that the situation is completely outside the department of labor and in the courts. the only part the department of labor controls is the

investigation stage. they have no control over the trial process because workers could appeal. >> workers never win because employers have all the money and can afford the money. employers always win, employers have to take the abuse. >> we wanted to ask tony low, the owner of yes car, about these workers. >> yes, is this yes car? >> yes. >> may i speak with tony low? >> tony is no longer working here. >> can i speak to someone who is the manager of this place? >> tony low has out of this work two three years ago. since 2012.

>> reporter: i asked him what his drivers are currently making. he wouldn't specify but he did say they are still paid as contractors. >> taxicab, nobody is working for us, it's all independent contractor. >> reporter: the drivers you classify as independent contractors. >> the department of labor says it's not aware of any case against yes car. worker advocates say tony low's decision to sell the business is a common tactic to avoid case he of stolen wages. >> it's ecial perfectly legal to shut down the, business, the state does allow this and that to declare bankruptcy, hide the assets whatever, the law allows the

contractor to say, that's not my responsibility. i think that's why so many employers and businesses do it, rob workers. >> six years after suing yes car he has a new job in brooklyn. make just enough money to cover rent and support his family but can't shake the feeling he's been robbed. >> do you regret coming to united states? >> translator: no. america isn't heaven if you were living in china and were making a good living, i would tell you not to come here. it's not a perfect world. america has its own oppression, it's very hard to live here. >> what's the hardest part much being able to take care of your family? >> translator: it's all for my family. it's my responsibility to take care of the family. >> reporter: did you ever

think it was going to be this difficult ? >> translator: no. life in china was better. >> our report from "america tonight's" christof putzel, following the trail of hard work and the hard truth of getting paid. in a moment we'll travel down a different sort of trail, one that follows an american icon, our wild horses at home on the range and struggling to remain free. and later, we'll meet an american treasure, wrangling life and fatherhood with his heart. >> [chanting] yes we can! >> an historic election. >> you and i, we're going

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♪ ♪ ♪ >> and now a look at a challenge to freedom. america's wild horses are a thrill to see at home on the range but there are efforts underway to curtail them from roaming n. in wyoming, officials say their numbers reached 500 in the checkerboard region and the bureau of land management is looking to remove many. with the federal agency charged with protecting them accused of selling hundreds to slaughterhouses. "america tonight's" chris bury brings us the story. >> i see horses up here. there is nothing any more exciting hardly than seeing a band of wild horses and we've got like two or three up here. and they're even a couple of babies, i think.

>> reporter: for 21 years ginger katherines a documentary photographer has focused her attention on wild horse he that still roam wiexg an wyoming and other western states. these are among over 800 wild horse he living freely in the rugged sage of western wyoming, sharing the land with elk and antelope. >> they are evocative of a time long ago. it's thrilling to see them. big spectacular animals still on the landscape. they're wild and so they have this spirit inside that they exude that a lot of times you don't see with domestic horses. >> and now katherines has joined a bitter battle to keep them wild. siding with preservation is and against blm to remove them from

this part of wyoming forever. >> why are you opposed to removing these wild horses? >> there is no need to remove them. the blm is bending to the wishes of the cattle men who want more cattle and less horses. the date of the transcontinental railroad, an area called the checkerboard, two and a half million acres of open range. the cattle ranchers argue that the wild horses overrun these grazing areas on private land. you none of the ranchers would speak to us on camera but one has won a settlement from the bureau forcing it to remove horses from private and public land. >> will all the horse he be removed from two and a half million acres?

>> all the horse he will be removed from the checkerboard portion. >> kim foster says the impending roundup is strictlily to comply with the court order known as a consent decree. >> the court recognizes that it's difficult for us to distinguish between the private and public so the decree says to remove all. >> the horse he are probated by federal law and ranchers lease the public land at bargain rates subsidized by taxpayers. >> it is kind of like an old fashioned land grab from back in the 1800s. i think they're stealing it from the american public. they're stealing our heritage, they're stealing an icon of freedom. it's not fair. >> reporter: in recent years the blm has rounded up wild horse he by helicopter to control their population. out here, they have few natural predators, and unchecked, the blm says, their numbers would

grow by 20% a year. once they are rounded up, the horses go to blm holding pens and pastures, most for rest of their lives. here they are tagged and branded, the stallions gelded. nationwide, nearly 47,000 are now in government custody, more than remain in the wild. at a cost of $72 million a year. the public can adopt them. but adoptions have fallen off dramatically. why is it difficult for folks to adopt a wild horse? >> the most difficult part of commitment. it is a long term commitment and it's somewhat expensive. >> reporter: so the blm has turned to selling some of the horses on the condition buyers took good care of them. but now a federal investigation is underway into allegations hundreds were sold to be killed

for their meat, a felony offense. the bureau of land management requires buyers to sign contract saying the animals won't be resold for slaughter. but the biggest buyer by far is a colorado livestock organizers, and the blm can't account for reluctance of animals he bought. since 2009, tom davis has bought more than 1700 wild horse he according to the blm in his applications uncovered by the nonprofit investigative group pro-publica. davis promised the horses would be used for movies, turned out to pasture . hundreds of horse he with blm brands to spofforz texas and border crossings for animals on their way to slaughterhouses in mexico.

>> he's a kill buyer. everyone knows he's a kill buyer. blm knows he is a kill buyer. they allowed one facility, numerous facilities to sell him horse he, they knew what he was going to do with them. >> in a 2012 interview, davis is quoted as saying, what is wrong with taking all those blm horses that got all fat and shiny and setting up a kill plant? [ ringing ] >> please leave a message thank you e-thank you for calling. >> hi mr. davis, my name is chris bury. >> davis did not return any of our phone calls, the offing of inspector general would only say its investigation is ongoing. ginger katherines is convinced the blm looked the other way to get rid of animals they no longer wanted.

>> do you hold them culpable? >> i certainly do. they are culpable. never. this is the only wildlife species they are supposed to be managing and they've made a horrible horrible mess out of it. >> reporter: but b lmpletm lm insists that wildlife is thriving. hundreds still roam over wyoming and montana. >> the wild horse population is as healthy as it has ever been. the habitat is managed in such a way that there's plenty of forage for them. >> after two decades of filming wild horses here, ginger katherines cannot imagine them disappearing from this range. >> not to see them would be sad.

i would we let them down and destroyed their life for nothing. >> the fate of these mustangs roaming wild and free for so long now hangs in the balance. and the government agency that is supposed to protect them is underfire from those who say it has failed to do just that. chris bury, al jazeera, rock springs, wyoming. >> next we say out on the range, with the view of american treasures, taming the wild and bringing us the life of an american icon, the cowboy.

al jazeera america. ♪ ♪ >> finally from us tonight the dream of so many little boys and girls, live large and real. and in the great american west. as part of our american treasure series, the story of a rough and ready icon trying to preserve a special part of our culture so he can pass it on in hel helena,

montana. >> i have seen things and been laces that peopl places that people would pay millions of dollars to go see and lived it. the cowboy, that's about alt i ever known. -- all i ever known. i like to rope everything. i try orope bears and deer and elk. if it moves i try oget a rope on it. o get a rope on it. i ride a lot of colts, you know, for outside people and i do some of my own that i do. but if somebody calls and needs help, that's where i go. different outfits

need people, go doctor calves or brand or move food cows and i'll help them do that. i don't know if i'm a professional. but i want to say i'm a cowboy, you know. i just want to be able to say that whatever needs to be done i can get her done. that's what i want to know is a cowboy, get the job done. i got a wife that puts up with me, and then i got two boys that i'm trying too make them cowboys. they're getting to be pretty good cowboys. they're pretty good help, they're starting to figure it out so we keep going. that kid of mine, showing off! i just think it's a good way to

be ar brought up, you know, and they get to learn how to deal with animals and the work ethic you know? cowboys got a good work ethic. i have had cattle since i was them boys' age and that's what i want to be is a rancher some day. just be able to sustain and live a good life with your family, you know. ranching is a good life. harder to make a living, you know. used to be a lot more families could live on a place and make it. and now it's tougher. so we'll just keep working at it. i just keep getting up just because i kind of enjoy what i do so i can't complain . cowboying is dying, i don't know

if there will be cowboying. so if i can get my kids a chance to do it now when i can teach them a few things, and maybe they'll find a loop and get into it. but you never know, can't count on it. we'll see. got to keep dealing with the times and living the way you live. i was guiding hunters and a horse got loose and i got off of it and i hit a tree. i spent 21 days in the hospital and don't remember about three months. having that wreck just gave me a wakeup call that i need to appreciate what i have and the life i get to live. i was wanting more and more, and really now, i'm satisfied with what i have.

i still want, i don't want material things. i want to keep improving in my riding. i want to get to have more ranch and get my kids to appreciate what i think is important in life. good job man! if they can get something out of that, you know i'm not going to make them be cowboys. if that's not what they want. i just want to try to give them the opportunity i had, you know. >> come on get on my horse. come get on my horse. >> hold it tight? >> hold it tight. >> and what are you going to do? >> come forward, unbe tally a little bit. dally. >> i can't. dally. pull it tight

davin. backup. backup. >> me being a parent i got to push them and expect them to pull their weight. >> coil up. no coil up. you got ohold him tight. >> i'm holding him tight. >> over here logan. back him up, back up. back up. be this is the first time they've done it. forward boys and undally pfn forward logan, undally. don't -- all right, forward. >> our goal is to make it to 30. i'm like seven years over that. i think i've lived a good life already. so now it's just bonus. god gave men two legs. one to put on each side of a horse. that's how i live.

>> god gave men two legs to ride a legislators. that is "america tonight." please come back, we'll have more of "america tonight" tomorrow. >> al jazeera america, proud to give voice to the voiceless. >> we are creating a class of adults exposed to mediocre education. >> there's bad people out there in these sports. >> we call chicago "chiraq" because we have more killers than iraq. >> in order to save my children, i had to try to save everyone else's. >> i had to encourage them... to tell them, there's a better way. >> i have to do my one hundred percent best so i don't end up in a place like this again. >> you have kids here who've killed someone?

>> yes we do. >> my homie got shot five times. >> have you ever seen anybody get shot? >> highlighting threats to children around the world. >> it's very difficult for us. we don't have clothes, we don't have food. >> in terms of child labor, myanmar is ranked one of the worst in the world. >> do you make anything that ends up in walmart? >> yes. >> this is where a lot of america's clothes come from, and it's a reality many companies don't want us to see. >> shelee, how old are you? >> 12 years old. >> shelee, do you go to school? >> i used to. >> the shells exploded right in the middle of the room. you have to remember that this was a school and the blackboard still has a lesson plan on it. >> this is imagery and scars impacting scores of children across gaza. >> pernilla ironside and unicef sponsor therapy for children who have lost a parent or a home. 10 year old ibrahim nasser lost both. thanks to the exercises, ibrahim can look forward. >> can you tell me what you want to be when you grow up? >> a doctor. >> why do you want to be a doctor? >> to heal the wounded.

>> al jazeera america - proud to tell your stories. >> pakistan will launch a par paramilitary crackdown on the attack that targeted christians. hello again from doha. this is the world news from al jazeera. belgium police released cctv footage as a judge frees a man charged over the attacks. the u.s. government said that it has retrieved data from an iphone and has done it without apple's help. and new laws allow