Recent US Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity around Kansas meatpacking plants has coincided with workforce absences and falling slaughter volumes, industry groups say, adding pressure to an already tight beef supply.
Rancher and cattle industry groups report thousands of cattle delayed and workforce disruptions after ICE actions near Kansas meatpacking communities.
Kansas is a major processing hub: more than half a million cattle were slaughtered there in August, representing over 20% of US processing that month.
ICE says its operations targeted criminals and people with outstanding deportation orders and were not worksite enforcement inside plants, while unions report detentions of plant employees in surrounding communities.
The disruptions come at a time when the US is already struggling with tight beef supplies due to a small cattle herd, sending consumer prices up to record highs. Much of the US's meat industry depends on immigrant labor: 45% of meatpacking workers at the start of the pandemic were foreign-born, according to the American Immigration Council. Read More: ICE Raids Spread to Agriculture as Meat Plant Targeted ICE has been stepping up its arrest efforts in recent months following a spring lull in the wake of deadly shootings that killed two US citizens in January.
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ICE Actions Hit Kansas Meatpacking Operations, Ranchers Say Article 0 Comments Increased actions by US immigration enforcement are creating significant disruption to beefpacking operations in Kansas, an area where nearly all of the country's major processors have operations. Kansas has not elected a Democrat to the Senate in nearly 100 years. Kansas is the second-largest state for commercial cattle processing.
Officials said the impact to these businesses included delays in cattle shipping and workforce disruptions.
Meatpacking industry groups raised concerns Friday that recent heightened immigration operations in Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma have caused employees to miss work.
Beef prices have soared to record highs in the past year, largely thanks to the smallest national herd in 75 years.
Three major cattle groups are warning the recent ICE enforcement raids across southwest Kansas and neighboring states are disrupting the beef supply chain and could eventually push prices higher.The Kansas Livestock Association, Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association and Texas Cattle Feeders Association s
The Kansas Livestock Association, Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association, and Texas Cattle Feeders Association released a joint statement urging federal officials to conduct enforcement actions in a "lawful" manner following reported disruptions to cattle processing businesses.
Updates about construction professionals in the Midwest region.
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