According to a recent article
in The Washington Post, a
meat-processing plant in Tennessee was raided by U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement as part of President Trump’s draconian immigration policy.
ICE rounded up and arrested nearly a hundred
workers. They have been sent to a detention center and face deportation for
reportedly being in the U.S. illegally. The plant’s owners face criminal
charges for illegally hiring and paying undocumented workers, though this is
considered common in the factory farming industry.
Last year The Washington
Post stated, “The Trump administration’s aggressive enforcement
of immigration laws and promise to build a wall to keep more people from
crossing the border illegally threaten the viability of the on-farm workforce.
Sadly, work at factory farms and
slaughterhouses is often the only option for undocumented workers. Even worse,
the National Human Trafficking Hotline reports
that undocumented workers are often lured to the U.S. by traffickers hired by
the meat, dairy, and egg industries.
According to a recent Vice article,
“The Department of Labor officially puts the number of undocumented farmworkers
at 46 percent, but industry experts and labor advocates estimate that the
number is much, much higher—possibly closer to 70 percent.
Since many workers fear deportation, they
often endure low wages and long hours with no overtime pay and have their wages
unfairly altered. Many are denied health care, exposed to hazardous chemicals,
and required to operate dangerous machinery.
Countless reports have highlighted the perilous and unsanitary working conditions in
these facilities and how workers are often mistreated and exploited. In fact, a report from
Oxfam found
that line workers at Tyson Foods, Perdue Farms, Pilgrim’s Pride, and Sanderson
Farms were denied breaks. Workers went so long without breaks that some were
forced to wear diapers. What’s more, workers commonly
sustain severe injuries and suffer from respiratory illnesses
and infections by antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
In addition to its physical dangers, work at
factory farms and slaughterhouses often leads to psychological trauma. According to PTSD Journal, many factory farm and
slaughterhouse workers must emotionally disconnect from their work to cope
with the daily abuse and killing of animals. This emotional dissonance often
leads to domestic violence, social withdrawal, anxiety, drug and
alcohol abuse, and PTSD.
Vice
reports:
While nearly all parts of the U.S. food system are propped up by immigrant labor, the intensely physical and gruesome work of animal processing is even more so. Slaughterhouse work is dangerous, loud, and gory—and business owners regularly can’t find enough laborers with working papers to meet their production needs. Some are able to hire immigrant labor through the H2-B temporary worker visa program, but gaining eligibility as an H2-B employer is time-consuming and difficult, so many facilities turn to undocumented immigrants.
Slaughterhouse workers have little power over how animals are treated. Extreme confinement, mutilations without painkillers,
and ruthless slaughter are not the fault of low-level workers.
While it’s certainly true that animals pay the
ultimate price, farmworkers are oppressed by the same system that values profit
over everything else. Many workers have no voice for speaking out against the
atrocities they are forced to commit every day.
You can show your support for farmworkers and
farmed animals by boycotting the industry that exploits them. Click here
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