The data makes clear the nation’s uneasy, often unacknowledged reliance on immigrants’ vital role in our food supply, which has become even more important amid a historic labor shortage.
These workers put meat, produce and milk on our tables, often for relatively low pay and in conditions that can be dirty and dangerous. Perhaps there might be a rush of applicants to fill kill-floor vacancies or manage manure for the state’s large dairy, beef, pork and poultry operations after wide-scale deportations, but that seems unlikely.
To be absolutely clear, secure borders are imperative. At the same time, it’s also important to be honest about potential consequences from the sweeping actions the incoming Trump administration has proposed.
Labor shortages tend to lead to higher worker pay, which may translate to higher grocery costs. And if meatpacking and other agricultural enterprises can’t find workers, they’ll eventually relocate to where employees are more plentiful. The shameful long-standing congressional failure to pass immigration reforms, particularly ones that provide some sort of lasting safe haven for this critical workforce, has wider implications than many realize.
The St. Paul office for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) declined to answer questions about whether Worthington and other Minnesota meatpacking communities will be targeted under new Trump deportation policies. An ICE spokesman referred questions to the Trump transition team. As of Friday, there was no response. JBS also did not respond to request for comment.
Logic still applies, however. If the aim is to deport a lot of people, then it makes sense to focus on communities where many immigrants reside. Immigration legal experts in Minnesota share this concern.
