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NBC News
a day ago
- Politics
- NBC News
Hundreds of meatpacking workers with work permits lose their jobs following Trump immigration crackdown
Hundreds of immigrant workers at a meatpacking plant in Iowa have lost their jobs and face deportation risks after their work authorizations, which were tied to their immigration status, were revoked following the Trump administration's termination of a series of legal immigration programs. More than 200 employees at a JBS pork production facility in the city of Ottumwa began receiving letters of termination six weeks ago and having individual meetings with their employer, according to Otumwa Mayor Rick Johnson and Brian Ulin, a member and spokesperson of the United Food & Commercial Workers Local 230, which represents JBS workers in Ottumwa. In the meetings, JBS told the affected employees that their 'status was being rejected' by the company's verification system, Ulin told NBC News on Tuesday. "It said that they were no longer eligible to work in the U.S.' Many of the employees lost their legal immigration status and thus their accompanying work authorizations following the Trump administration's termination of programs such as the CHNV parole program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans, as well as various types of Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, according to the mayor, Ulin and Paulina Ocegueda, vice president of Ottumwa's chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the nation's oldest Hispanic civil rights organization. The programs gave temporary legal status to eligible immigrants from certain countries who have undergone natural disasters or political turmoil. 'They came here legally and they were doing it the right way," Ocegueda told NBC News. The Trump administration has argued that the TPS and CHNV programs are meant to be temporary and have allowed too many immigrants to enter the country. 'President Trump is enforcing federal immigration law and fulfilling his promise to the American people to end the exploitation of temporary programs — like TPS and CHNV — that were never intended to be a path to permanent status or citizenship," White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement to NBC News. "Under the Biden Administration, programs like CHNV were abused to admit hundreds of thousands of poorly vetted illegal aliens," Jackson stated, adding that there "is no shortage of American minds and hands to grow our labor force." 'A scary time for them' Ocegueda said LULAC had been meeting with employees losing their jobs and work authorizations who are now struggling to pay for their homes and feed their children. 'It's just a very scary time for them right now,' Ocegueda said. 'We're just trying to make sure that our community is not scared, making sure that they try to find the right resources.' Nikki Richardson, the head of communications at JBS, told NBC News in an email Tuesday evening that the company is "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." "If that guidance changes, we will act accordingly. We are communicating to any impacted employees that if their status changes or they have different documentation to share, they are eligible for reinstatement and/or rehire," Richardson said. The affected meatpacking plant in Ottumwa is the city's biggest employer, according to Ocegueda and Ulin. 'People have to wake up. People have to realize how much this is going to hurt all of us. We are messing with people's lives right now," Ocegueda said. During a City Council meeting July 15, Johnson said: 'JBS has been issuing 200 notices to people from Haiti, Cuba, Guatemala and Nicaragua. These people have work visas, but they've been revoked and the Supreme Court has upheld those revocations." "When people get these letters, it's my understanding JBS is meeting with each of these families individually. Their employment at JBS is terminated immediately and they have to get out of the country immediately," the mayor continued. Even though resources are limited, Ulin said the union is trying to help impacted members with legal assistance. Some of the employees were fairly new and others had worked at JBS for a long time, Ulin said. He described them as "hardworking, decent people" who are "just trying to better themselves." "They're not being treated fairly. They did everything right. They did what they were told do. They followed the procedure," Ulin said. "But because of some political B.S. ... they're caught in the middle." He also pointed out that these are the same meatpacking workers the first Trump administration deemed essential workers during the Covid pandemic. "Everybody working on that plant, some of these people were among them, showed up for work willingly and proudly, to put food on the table during a crisis time," Ulin said. "Five short years later, because of some political immigration issue — you're not good enough to work here anymore. I just have an issue with that." According to Richardson, the JBS "facilities are operating normally and our production levels remain unchanged" as of Tuesday evening.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Brazil beef-packers estimate $1 billion in losses if US tariffs apply
By Ana Mano SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Brazilian beef-packers' lobby Abiec, which represents companies including JBS and Marfrig, on Tuesday estimated losses of $1 billion if the United States applies a 50% tariff on Brazilian exports. The U.S. is Brazil's second biggest beef export destination after China. Roberto Perosa, head of Abiec, said Brazilian beef companies had expected to sell some 400,000 tons by yearend to the U.S., but imposition of a 50% tariff would make sales "inviable." No market can immediately replace the U.S. based on the sheer volume demanded by the importers and the price they are in a position to pay, he said. Brazilian beef-packers exported around 181,000 metric tons of beef worth $1 billion to the U.S. in the first half of this year, according to trade data, equivalent to around 12% of the country's total beef exports. The trade represented a nearly 113% increase by volume and a 102% increase by revenue on an annual basis, reflecting strong demand for the Brazilian product, which is mainly processed to make hamburgers for the United States. Speaking at a live event, Perosa said sector representatives are having talks with lawmakers in the U.S. hoping they can help avert enforcement of the new tariffs from August 1. He said a lack of Brazilian exports would spur domestic beef inflation in the U.S., which has been grappling with scarce cattle supplies and has been increasingly relying on beef imports.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Brazil beef-packers estimate $1 billion in losses if US tariffs apply
By Ana Mano SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Brazilian beef-packers' lobby Abiec, which represents companies including JBS and Marfrig, on Tuesday estimated losses of $1 billion if the United States applies a 50% tariff on Brazilian exports. The U.S. is Brazil's second biggest beef export destination after China. Roberto Perosa, head of Abiec, said Brazilian beef companies had expected to sell some 400,000 tons by yearend to the U.S., but imposition of a 50% tariff would make sales "inviable." No market can immediately replace the U.S. based on the sheer volume demanded by the importers and the price they are in a position to pay, he said. Brazilian beef-packers exported around 181,000 metric tons of beef worth $1 billion to the U.S. in the first half of this year, according to trade data, equivalent to around 12% of the country's total beef exports. The trade represented a nearly 113% increase by volume and a 102% increase by revenue on an annual basis, reflecting strong demand for the Brazilian product, which is mainly processed to make hamburgers for the United States. Speaking at a live event, Perosa said sector representatives are having talks with lawmakers in the U.S. hoping they can help avert enforcement of the new tariffs from August 1. He said a lack of Brazilian exports would spur domestic beef inflation in the U.S., which has been grappling with scarce cattle supplies and has been increasingly relying on beef imports. Sign in to access your portfolio
Reuters
2 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Brazil beef-packers estimate $1 billion in losses if US tariffs apply
SAO PAULO, July 29 (Reuters) - Brazilian beef-packers' lobby Abiec, which represents companies including JBS and Marfrig ( opens new tab, on Tuesday estimated losses of $1 billion if the United States applies a 50% tariff on Brazilian exports. The U.S. is Brazil's second biggest beef export destination after China. Roberto Perosa, head of Abiec, said Brazilian beef companies had expected to sell some 400,000 tons by yearend to the U.S., but imposition of a 50% tariff would make sales "inviable." No market can immediately replace the U.S. based on the sheer volume demanded by the importers and the price they are in a position to pay, he said. Brazilian beef-packers exported around 181,000 metric tons of beef worth $1 billion to the U.S. in the first half of this year, according to trade data, equivalent to around 12% of the country's total beef exports. The trade represented a nearly 113% increase by volume and a 102% increase by revenue on an annual basis, reflecting strong demand for the Brazilian product, which is mainly processed to make hamburgers for the United States. Speaking at a live event, Perosa said sector representatives are having talks with lawmakers in the U.S. hoping they can help avert enforcement of the new tariffs from August 1. He said a lack of Brazilian exports would spur domestic beef inflation in the U.S., which has been grappling with scarce cattle supplies and has been increasingly relying on beef imports.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
US cattle tally shows no end in sight for soaring beef prices
(Bloomberg) — The latest US cattle tally offered little relief for consumers paying record beef prices, even as the cycle of herd liquidation seems to be coming to an end. Trump Awards $1.26 Billion Contract to Build Biggest Immigrant Detention Center in US The High Costs of Trump's 'Big Beautiful' New Car Loan Deduction Can This Bridge Ease the Troubled US-Canadian Relationship? Salt Lake City Turns Winter Olympic Bid Into Statewide Bond Boom Trump Administration Sues NYC Over Sanctuary City Policy There were about 94.2 million cattle and calves in the US as of July 1, the lowest mid-year count on record in data going back to 1973, the Department of Agriculture said in a report. The number of animals placed in feedlots for weight gain before being sent to slaughter plunged to the lowest since 2017, the USDA said in a separate note. A severe shortage in the world's largest beef-producing country has sent cattle costs soaring, wiping out billions in profits for companies such as JBS NV and Tyson Foods Inc., while driving record beef prices at grocery stores. For years, ranchers have been slashing their herds due to a combination of high interest rates, costly feed and persistent drought. But record cattle prices and improved pasture conditions this year are raising speculation that ranchers are moving to rebuild their herds — a move that is yet to be confirmed. The latest USDA numbers offer 'very little indication of much herd rebuilding or anything very aggressive,' said Derrell Peel, a professor of agricultural economics at Oklahoma State University. The number of heifers in feedlots remained mostly stable relative to that for steers, suggesting ranchers are not meaningfully retaining females for breeding. 'We are probably stabilizing cattle numbers, but we're not growing yet,' he said. A large decline in beef cows raised specifically for breeding purposes also indicates that a rebuild has yet to kick in — prolonging a money-losing cycle for meat producers and potentially pushing consumers toward cheaper proteins like pork and chicken, according to Benjamin Theurer, an analyst at Barclays Plc. 'A full rebuild and margin recovery is a ways away,' he wrote in a note to clients. Even if ranchers start rebuilding now, beef supplies aren't expected to meaningfully recover before 2028 or 2029 — meaning cattle and beef prices are poised to remain elevated for years. Burning Man Is Burning Through Cash Confessions of a Laptop Farmer: How an American Helped North Korea's Wild Remote Worker Scheme It's Not Just Tokyo and Kyoto: Tourists Descend on Rural Japan Elon Musk's Empire Is Creaking Under the Strain of Elon Musk A Rebel Army Is Building a Rare-Earth Empire on China's Border ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
