Many of the employees were forced out of their jobs after a Biden-era parole program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans was terminated by the Trump administration in June.
JBS gave the employees at the Ottumwa plant 90 days to find new work authorization.
Some workers with pending asylum applications were able to regain their authorization and continue working at the plant.
“We told them that if they could get their authorization, to come and see us and we’ll do everything we can to get them back in there,” said Brian Ulin, a representative with the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 230 in Ottumwa.
But Ulin said it’s a small percentage — he estimated around 10%. The rest of the workers who were forced out of their jobs after being unable to find new work authorization either left the country or are struggling to make ends meet, now without a way to pay for many necessities.
“For them to move somewhere else, to a different city or a different state, it’s very costly,” said Paulina Ocegueda, vice president of the League of United Latin American Citizens in Ottumwa.
Still, Ocegueda estimated that between 10 and 30 Haitian immigrants who had worked at the JBS plant left the country. She said her organization works closely with the Haitian community in the area, but it’s possible that immigrants of other ethnic backgrounds who worked at the plant have also decided to leave.
“We help with the people that we know are still here, but we’re not certain if other ethnicities or minorities have left to a different state or to their home country,” Ocegueda said. “So we’re not certain what the statistics are, but we do know that the Haitian community has been going back home.”
For those who have stayed, an ever-changing and increasingly complex immigration system is preventing them from finding new work to support themselves and their families.
“They have to move in with each other and stack up each other in housing because they can no longer afford it,” Ocegueda said. “They can’t afford utilities, they can’t pay off their rents.”
She added that the children of the immigrant workers are experiencing a decline in mental health because of the changes to their parents’ employment.
“With the community, they’re very scared and really stressed because if you’re not having any finances, if you don’t have anything to support you, that’s a downfall for not only their family but also their future,” Ocegueda said. “I mean, they got everything taken away from them. They wanted to live the American dream.”
Ulin, with UFCW Local 230, said JBS refilled the positions left by the immigrant workers, and the terminations didn’t impact production.
“There were quite a few people worried for a while about their status being next,” Ulin said. “But I think a lot of them just got to work like nothing happened.”
