The JBS meat production plant in Ottumwa, Iowa, has begun issuing 200 deportation notices to employees from Haiti, Cuba, Guatemala and Nicaragua who had their work visas revoked, according to the mayor of Ottumwa.
“Their employment at JBS is terminated immediately, and they have to get out of the country immediately,” Mayor Rick Johnson announced in a recent city council meeting.
JBS employees had been living and working in the U.S. under work visas granted by a Biden administration program that gave temporary legal status to immigrants from the four nations. On May 20, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld President Donald Trump’s ability to revoke these work visas.
It’s easy to be “in the know” about what’s happening in Washington, D.C. Sign up for a FREE month of Agri-Pulse news! Simply click here
A JBS spokesperson told Agri-Pulse they are “focused on hiring team members who are legally authorized to work in the United States and will continue to follow the guidance provided to us by the U.S. government.”
In the city council meeting, Johnson said he believed JBS would provide each deported worker a $1,000 stipend for the move to their home countries.
“It's kind of very complicated process to get people up and leave the United States all of a sudden, when they've got houses and family and furnishings and stuff and cars,” Johnson said. “So, it's going to be interesting, to say the least, to see how that all turns out.”
According to the JBS website, the Ottumwa facility employs more than 2,700. A JBS spokesperson said their facilities will continue to operate “normally” in the face of these deportations with unchanged production levels.
For more news, go to Agri-Pulse.com.
