With the new U.S. presidential administration’s vows to deport immigrants who are in the United States illegally, concerns of increased raids by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency at poultry plants are coming to light.
Those concerns heard during the Poultry Market Intelligence Forum on January 29 at the 2025 International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE) in Atlanta, Georgia.
Christian Richter, principal with The Policy Group, discussed numerous matters regarding the federal government and its possible impacts on agriculture, giving a short mention to immigration reform and potential deportations under new Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.
But when Richter’s presentation came to an end, he had time for two questions. And both of them regarded raids by ICE, similar to those conducted in 2019 at several U.S. poultry plants.
The first to inquire asked if we will see raids at packing plants. Richter didn’t directly say we would, but he clearly didn’t rule it out, either.
Richter acknowledged that there are concerns, not only in the meat and poultry industries, but across all business sectors. He said that “every worksite, no matter what sector,” could be a target.
“I think thus far the message has been no one is going to get passed. No one is exempt,” he said.
Another IPPE attendee followed by asking how an employer can give confidence to employees who may be subjected to such raids, even if they are in the United States legally.
Richter told her that was a difficult question, saying he wished he was an “HR psychologist” so he could better answer the question.
However, he said the threat of such raids may be disruptive and worrisome to businesses and employees, he noted that no business is without its challenges.
“Isn’t uncertainty that key challenge to every business? This is a component of that, and now there’s more uncertainty. That’s why we’re anxious,” he said.
