US pork processing: preparations underway for mass deportations of illegal workers
The US meat processing sector relies on the use of illegal workers and is therefore scrambling for solutions in the face of President-Elect Trump’s plans for mass deportation of illegal migrants. Trump has stated that he will begin, after his inauguration 20 January, with criminal illegals and then deport others.
According to Wired Magazine, “around 23% of workers in the meatpacking industry are undocumented.” Comments from packers such as Christensen Farms (owner of two of the largest pork processing plants in the US, Seaboard Foods in Oklahoma and Triumph Foods in Missouri), JBS and Tyson have been scarce on this issue.
Outside of processing, there are denials from such groups as the North Carolina Pork Council that pig farmers use undocumented workers, but there are many reports that these workers are commonly hired on pig, dairy and poultry farms in various states.
Raids
Raids related to illegal workers at processing plants have occurred sporadically, but not often. In 2018, Christensen Farms was had a widely-publicised visit from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but there appears to be no publicized activity since. Indeed during the pandemic, US meat processors received special permissions to operate in order to keep meat in grocery stores.
It is challenging for companies like Christensen Farms to find Americans to fill processing positions as the wage is low, the temperature is cold, the work is physically taxing and there is a substantial risk of injury.
Significant impact
As noted recently by many news outlets such as Stateline, mass deportation “could upend the economies of states where farming and other food-related industries are crucial.” The prices of pork, beef and chicken will also rise. Chuck Conner, president and CEO of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives and a former US Department of Agriculture deputy secretary, recently warned that “if you take away [illegal] workers, you are not going to have production. There’s only one way prices are going to go. They are going to go dramatically higher.”
Labour needs
Sarah Little, spokesperson for The Meat Institute, which represents the US meatpacking industry, also gave the same warming recently to The Missouri Independent. “Continued labour problems in the processing sector will hamper production and drive-up costs, hurting both upstream producers and downstream consumers. Efforts to address the labour needs of agriculture must consider both the production sector and the processing sector.”
Indeed, in meat processing, dairy farming and many other ag-related contexts, labour shortages are already common in the US, among other countries.
Solutions slim
Without illegal workers, US pork processing companies will have to raise wages to attract American workers, further automate and/or rapidly legalise many thousands of workers. The Meat Institute supports continuation of the H-2B temporary foreign worker program and reforming the H-2A program to include meat processing.
