Meatpacking giant JBS' July firing of 200 workers in Ottumwa because the Trump administration was revoking their work visas could be just the start of a wave of job losses, with thousands more workers across the state and nation also caught in the crackdown on immigrants, experts say.
Dramatic roundups of undocumented immigrants at meat plants, like one that U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement staged in Omaha in June, have been isolated so far.
But the Meat Institute, the industry’s lobbying group, estimates that 20% of the nation’s meat processing workforce — about 102,000 of 510,000 workers — have lost or will lose their jobs as President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security moves to shut down programs like the humanitarian parole under which the Ottumwa workers were employed. The parole program for immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela began in early 2023 during the Biden administration and allowed them to receive the work visas.
In Iowa, one of the largest U.S. meat suppliers, the program's end could mean the dismissal of as many as 7,000 of the state’s estimated 35,000 workers who each year slaughter and process millions of pigs, cattle, turkeys and other livestock.
Dermot Hayes, an Iowa State University agricultural economist, said the loss of foreign workers could push meat prices higher for consumers and revenues lower for livestock producers.
“It’s hard to lose 200 people on a production line and not have it impact productivity. These people are well trained," Hayes said, adding that packing plants "can’t go to McDonalds to get more" workers.
Meatpackers so far are downpedaling the effects. JBS said in a statement it was replacing the workers and hadn’t lost production capacity. The Meat Institute, asked if the lost labor was impacting production, said "that portion of the workforce has been phased out of the system."
Smithfield Foods, another large meatpacker with facilities in Denison, Mason City and Carroll, acknowledged it’s also cutting immigrant workers who’ve lost their legal work status, calling it "a relatively small number.” The company expects “no impact to our operations,” Ray Atkinson, a Smithfield spokesman, said in an email.
Tyson Foods and Cargill Inc., all with large Iowa processing operations, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Seaboard Triumph Foods, another large meatpacker, declined to comment.
The federal government began canceling immigration programs in March, but, amid legal challenges, it was June before it started notifying many workers. The Meat Institute said many employers began notifying and replacing workers earlier, not waiting for resolution of the legal challenges.
Trump's administration has blamed former President Joe Biden for the "disastrous" parole program that allowed the immigrants into the country, saying they were "poorly vetted" and created chaos and committed crimes.
Union and advocacy groups say the immigrants are hard workers, who support their families and contribute to their communities and local economies.
In addition to the humanitarian parole, legal experts say, immigrants in meatpacking, construction and other industries are working in the U.S. through a number of other programs including temporary protected status, which U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has moved to end. Some have lived and worked in the U.S. for decades.
"Immigrants who had legal status in the country are now being pushed into an undocumented status and potentially targeted by ICE and deportation," said Elena Castillas-Hoffman, an Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice spokesperson.
Iowa union leaders said some of the immigrants losing their jobs had been designated essential workers during Trump’s first term, when he invoked the emergency powers of the Defense Production Act to force meatpacking plants to remain open during the early days of COVID-19 pandemic.
Most workers "proudly and voluntarily went in there to keep the food supply going. They were on the front line during an uncertain time,” said Brian Ulin, vice president of United Food & Commercial Workers Local 230, which represents JBS workers in Ottumwa.
“They were considered heroes,” said Mike Sunken, a UFCW collective bargaining representative in Fort Dodge.
Now, he said, Trump “wants to get rid of them. That’s the part that doesn’t make sense to me.”
'It’s not just a production issue. It’s a community issue'
Ottumwa is struggling with the impact of the worker losses and potential deportation, said Paulina Ocegueda, a member of the city’s chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens. Many of the workers and their families are trying to decide their next step.
“We have to remember these people came to the United States the right way,” Ocegueda said. “They’re working and providing for themselves and their families. And they’re paying taxes and contributing to society.”
Homeland Security is urging immigrants to self-deport, offering them $1,000 apiece to be paid when they arrive in their home countries. But Ocegueda said many will again face the problems that they sought to escape when fleeing to the U.S., including violence, poverty and political turmoil.
Sonia Parras, a Des Moines immigration attorney, said some people find themselves stripped of jobs overnight, with little money to pay rent or purchase groceries and gas, let alone buy tickets for flights to their home countries.
Many are at risk of imminent removal, she said, adding that they may be forced to leave spouses and children who are U.S. citizens. "That's inhumane," she said.
Trump has trumpeted the immigration crackdown, saying his administration is going after the “worst of the worst” — gang members, rapists, human traffickers and other criminals. "Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, ICE is taking the worst of the worst off the streets and making America safe again," a Homeland Security spokeswoman said in a statement Aug. 1, announcing the agency's most recent arrests.
But 71% of those, though facing charges, haven't been convicted of crimes, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement data through July.
More: Have ICE arrests, deportations in Iowa climbed under President Trump? What the numbers say
Farm groups have been concerned about how the immigration crackdown would impact ag operations. Of the 2.6 million people working on U.S. farms, about 42% lack legal status, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture and other estimates.
The administration has sent conflicting messages. In a July 3 trip to Iowa, Trump said he and Noem were going to "put the farmers in charge" when it comes to agricultural workers who are in the country illegally. "If a farmer’s willing to vouch for these people, in some way, Kristi, I think we’re going to have to just say that’s going to be good, right?" he said.
More: Trump: We'll 'put the farmers in charge' when deciding to deport immigrant ag workers
"You know, we’re going to be good with it. Because we don’t want to do it where we take all of the workers off the farms. We want the farms to do great like they’re doing right now," Trump said.
But at a July 8 news conference, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said "no amnesty" would be given to migrants working in agriculture. "The mass deportations continue, but in a strategic way," Rollins said when asked about farm labor.
U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, said in a statement July 30 that the rescinded programs were meant to be temporary.
"I understand the impact the department's decision can have on the local community and farm economy," Grassley said, adding that Trump "wants farmers to succeed and Congress is working with the administration to provide farmers with as much certainty as possible."
Union leaders: Meatpackers may have to increase wages to find new workers
UFCW’s Ulin and Sunken said JBS workers are stressed as they train new employees while trying to maintain production. “There’s massive hiring going on now,” Ulin said.
“But it’s not just a production issue. It’s a community issue,” said Sunken, noting that one company he represents in northwest Iowa has lost nearly 10% of its workforce due to the administration's immigration actions.
Ulin said workers came to Ottumwa and other Iowa communities with spouses, children, parents and other extended family. The impact is multiplied as families decide to leave.
“It’s going to put a strain on businesses that are losing customers,” Ulin said, adding that schools will lose students, and churches and other community groups will lose members.
“It’s sad,” he said. “We’re all trying to make a better life and support our families. And none of us expect to have the rug pulled out from under us.”
While he doesn’t anticipate the disruption will be as severe, Hayes, the ISU economics professor, points to the price shock U.S. consumers experienced when meatpacking plant workers became ill — and dozens died — during the global COVID-19 pandemic, forcing temporary plant closures.
The U.S. lost about 30% of its slaughter capacity during the pandemic, leaving producers in Iowa and elsewhere to destroy hogs and other livestock as processing lines backed up.
Azzeddine Azzam, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln agricultural economist, said a tighter labor market may force meatpackers to pay higher wages to attract U.S.-born workers.
"Plants may need to make it more attractive for people who have not traditionally been willing to work for you," he said.
But Azzam pointed out that increased processing costs also could lower prices for producers and push consumer costs higher. The threat of higher consumer prices comes as Americans have struggled with inflation. Food prices climbed about 24% from 2020 to 2024, U.S. Department of Agriculture data shows.
Price spikes continue, with consumers paying record-high prices for beef in June, given supply constraints and strong demand.
Experts say JBS, Smithfield and other meatpackers are following the law in firing immigrant workers and could face fines if they retained them. The Meat Institute in June urged the Trump administration to include meatpackers in a discussion of changes that will create a "stable and legal agriculture workforce."
Casillas-Hoffman said Iowa's economy depends on finding a solution.
"The reality is that Iowa needs immigrant workers," she said, adding, "We know our communities depend on the vitality of immigrants and refugees."
Donnelle Eller covers agriculture, the environment and energy for the Register. Reach her at [email protected]
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Trump crackdown on immigrants could cost meatpackers 20% of workers
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