Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers recently executed warrants on seven Mississippi chicken processing plants resulting in the arrest of 680 illegal immigrants holding jobs that could be filled by Americans.
The recent ICE arrests uncovered that these executives “willfully and unlawfully” hired illegals without the necessary work documentation required under federal and state guidelines. An immigration informant reportedly infiltrated PH Food Inc., a corporation owned by a California resident.
ICE intelligence into the unlawful employment practices reportedly uncovered that the owner and managers routinely sidestepped federal E-Verify statutes that require valid ID and social security numbers in order to hire cheap help, mostly undocumented Guatemalans.
“The payroll companies as well as PH Food Inc. and A&B Inc. do not verify the authenticity of their documents,” an undercover ICE operative reportedly stated in court documents.
Compounding the matter, ICE officials gathered information on previously arrested illegals who had been required to wear electronic monitoring devices. These illegal immigrants were working at these Mississippi facilities despite the fact that court records indicate they were banned from unauthorized employment in the U.S.
Democrats and the left-wing media have pushed propaganda trying to undermine ICE and Trump Administration efforts to put these jobs back into the hands of unemployed and underemployed American citizens.
“These ICE raids are designed to tear families apart, spread fear, and terrorize communities,” Democrat presidential hopeful Sen. Kamala Harris reportedly said. “These children went to daycare and are now returning home without their parents because Trump wants to play politics with their lives.”
ICE officials had already put childcare in place for the minors of illegal immigrants who might be detained. Nearly half of those arrested were efficiently released on humanitarian grounds to reunite with children after being processed. But what Democrats such as Sen. Harris and others are avoiding is the fact that 680 illegal immigrants held jobs in Mississippi while the state suffers unusually high joblessness.
Mississippi ranked among the top states with the highest unemployment rate in the nation and one of only nine, as well as the District of Columbia, with a jobless rate higher than the national average, according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS).
Most of the state’s residents are working-class Americans, with just 21 percent earning a bachelor’s degree. Nearly 20 percent of people in Mississippi live in poverty, and the average household income stood at $42,000 in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Although African-American unemployment rates are currently the lowest in the country’s recorded history, the state’s education and economic demographics lends itself to jobs like those the illegals held. African-Americans comprise 37.8 percent of the population in Mississippi.
Those statistics point to troubling policy issues promoted by Democrats. First, the liberal extremist leadership of the party continues to promote open borders and sanctuary cities that are rife with uneducated illegals. Those migrants have no choice but to take manual labor jobs and are directly competing with low-income families across the country. That reality means that hardworking Americans are struggling to find employment while liberals prefer supporting foreigners.
But out the other side of Democrats’ mouths, they perpetuate a false narrative that the GOP and Trump Administration are “racist.” Nothing could be further from the truth. The America First policies of the administration have buoyed the economy and improved the opportunities of Americans from all walks of life. African-Americans and Latino-Americans have enjoyed the most significant uptick in wealth since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act took effect.
But there is still much work to be done before all Americans enjoy equal economic opportunity. African-American unemployment hovered at 6 percent in July and Latino-American joblessness stood at 4.5 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
There are approximately 6.1 million Americans out of work for a variety of reasons that include incompatible skills, location, and other considerations. But there are more than 7.3 million positions available across the country, according to the BLS.
Handing jobs over to an illegal immigrant population that some estimate exceeds 22 million is an insult to hardworking Americans. Regardless of how left-leaning pundits want to spin the recent ICE raids, the Trump Administration has been relentless in returning American jobs to American citizens.
