This 2001 article from the New York Times, “Meatpackers’ Profits Hinge On Pool of Immigrant Labor,” explains a situation with which most of us are familiar, but which today’s editorialist failed to even mention: the dependency of key U.S. industries on (often illegal) immigrant workers:
Of course, because of the widespread use of counterfeit documents, no one knows for sure how many [immigrants] are working illegally. But industry and government officials say that, for better or worse, foreign-born workers are now one of the most vital elements in the American food and agriculture system.
About one million farm laborers are on the job at any one time, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. And a government study estimated that nearly 40 percent are illegal. A few years ago, the Immigration and Naturalization Service estimated that about 25 percent of meatpacking workers in the Midwest were probably illegal.
Given agribusiness’s inclination to use illegal labor in order to drive down wages, perhaps our major beef ought to be with companies like Tyson Foods that flaunt U.S. laws by actually importing undocumented Mexican workers to their midwestern meatpacking plants: (more in expanded post)
The indictment of Tyson Foods Inc., the nation’s largest meat processor, on charges that it conspired to smuggle illegal immigrants to work at its plants, is a sign of how dependent the American food and agriculture system has become on foreign-born workers, many of them here illegally.
Because of this heavy reliance, agriculture experts say, a major effort to crack down on the hiring of illegal workers could disrupt the nation’s food industry.
“This would really cripple the system,” said William Heffernan, professor of rural sociology at the University of Missouri who has studied immigrant labor. “In the communities where these plants are located there isn’t an alternative work force. They’d have to raise wages and improve the conditions.”
Until 15 or 20 years ago, meatpacking plants in the United States were staffed by highly paid, unionized employees who earned about $18 an hour, adjusted for inflation. Today, the processing and packing plants are largely staffed by low-paid non-union workers from places like Mexico and Guatemala. Many of them start at $6 an hour.
The shift in the economics of the food and agriculture industry has made such jobs unappealing to Americans, but highly enticing to immigrants.
Companies like Tyson, Smithfield Foods and Conagra have profited from paying low wages, pushing production lines faster and hiring workers who are much more willing to endure the hazardous conditions of a meat-processing plant, industry experts say.
In addition to letting U.S. companies off the hook, the editorial also breezily dismisses concerns about the proposed border wall, noting that unlike the Berlin wall, this one would block immigration, not emigration. Yes…but do we really want to make our country into one giant gated community? Will building a barricade really stem the tide of immigration, or will its primary effect be diverting attention from the extreme economic disparities that lead to most illegal immigration in the first place, including the U.S.’s role in alleviating and/or exacerbating those disparities through things like NAFTA?
The Dems open list is already abuzz with some commentary on the article; people may post more of their thoughts on Demapples soon, so keep your eye on that gorgeous site, too. I’m sure some of you readers are well-versed on U.S. immigration policy issues, so please share some wisdom and help school the rest of us!
Cambridge Common 