Tiny rural Nebraska town that banned non-citizens from renting is overwhelmed by a huge influx of migrants - as asylum seekers flock to fill jobs at meat processing plants
By Rachel Bowman For Dailymail.Com,
2024-03-24
A Nebraska town that outlawed non-U.S. citizens from renting property has seen an influx of migrants moving to fill jobs at meat processing plants.
Fremont, a small town with a population of 27,000, is home to several meat processing plants including Costco's chicken factory and Wholestone Farms pork plant.
Locals have said the town's natives are leaving for jobs elsewhere and migrants have come to take those vacant jobs at the slaughterhouses, reported NBC News . That is despite a decade-old law that prevents anyone who is not a citizen from living in the area.
The town, which was once nearly all white, now has a Latino population of 16 percent in 2022, according to U.S. census data.
'We need these people. We need this work done. This is what feeds the nation and the world,' said Mark Jensen, president of the city council.
'These are very physical jobs, and a lot of it's hard work. And it's not something that a lot of people can do.'
Jensen told NBC News he has worked in the meat processing industry for 40 years and the jobs have become less attractive to native-born Americans.
The Guatemalan consulate in Omaha reportedly said there are at least 2,020 Guatemalans in Fremont and the true figure could be 45 percent higher.
Community organizer Antonio Lopez said in the past four years, the school system has added 600 who do not speak English as a first language. Of the Guatemalan migrants, over 40 percent speak an Indigenous language called K'iche'.
Maria and Vicente Hernandez, pastors at a local Guatemalan church, told NBC News their congregation grew from three people to 200 in seven years.
'With Hispanic migrants, although it is hard, although it is heavy, they endure,' said Vicente.
Jessica Kolterman, director of administration for the Costco plant, Lincoln Premium Poultry, told the Fremont Tribune they offer English language classes for its employees. The plant, which opened in 2019 has an estimated 1,200 employees.
'If you come into this team and you want to work hard and grow, that opportunity is there in front of you,' Kolterman said.
In May, Wholestone Farms announced their Fremont pork processing plant will add a second shift and double its capacity to 5.6 million pigs which would add 800 to 1,000 jobs, reported the Omaha World-Herald .
However, as the town looks to migrants to fill the meatpacking jobs, a law passed in 2010 bans non-citizens from renting property in Fremont.
The law, known as Ordinance 5165, requires first-time renters and people moving to a new address to fill out a form declaring they live in the country legally and obtain a $5 license to move, reported KETV .
The city clerk's office told NBC News it gets three to five of the declarations a day from migrants and other applicants.
In 2014, a federal court ruled the ordinance was legal, and the Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal. However, the law has no language that requires renters to prove they are citizens, they just have to fill out a form stating if they are.
The city paid Kobach Law a $10,000 yearly retainer in case of lawsuits challenging the law. Kobach Law, the private practice of now Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, ended its contract with Fremont in 2023.
'The city's citizens asked the city council to do something because it was pretty obvious that we had just become a haven for illegals,' said city council member Paul Von Behren.
'Just the sheer pressure of bringing in numbers of people has resulted in a considerable burden to the taxpayers.'
The issues facing Freemont, one where meatpacking plants are essential to the local economy but often employ migrant workers, are not new in the Midwest. Migrant workers at plants have become a hot-button issue in many conservative parts of the Midwest as voters wanted tired immigration controls, but also don't want to lose the plants.
DailyMail.com revealed Bill Flaig, CEO and co-founder of the $79 million American Conservative Values Fund, divested from Tyson over allegations the company is laying off American workers and hiring asylum seekers.
Angry shoppers are boycotting Tyson Foods products as the $53-million meat firm shutters plants in Iowa and elsewhere while hiring thousands of asylum seekers at job fairs in New York.
Campaigners are urging consumers to stop buying Tyson products amid its wave of closures of poultry- and meat-processing plants across Iowa, Virginia, Arkansas, Indiana, and Missouri.
They point to Tyson's efforts to hire thousands of asylum seekers in New York, offering $16.50-an-hour wages and free immigration lawyers, accusing the firm of ditching US-born workers for cheaper migrant labor.
In a statement, the company said: 'In recent days, there has been a lot of misinformation in the media about our company, and we feel compelled to set the record straight.
'Any insinuation that we would cut American jobs to hire immigrant workers is completely false.'
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
Welcome to NewsBreak, an open platform where diverse perspectives converge. Most of our content comes from established publications and journalists, as well as from our extensive network of tens of thousands of creators who contribute to our platform. We empower individuals to share insightful viewpoints through short posts and comments. It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency: our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. We strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation. Join us in shaping the news narrative together.
Comments / 0