Big Ag’s Immigration Racket | Rising Anxieties

Our Hen House: Vegan & Animal Rights Movement | Stories from the Frontlines of Animal Liberation

This week, Mariann Sullivan dives into the disturbing synergy between immigration policies and the meat industry, exposing a system designed to exploit vulnerable workers. From the Trump administration’s extension of dangerous line speed waivers to the calculated immigration “crisis” that may lead to even more exploitative visa programs, the podcast reveals how Big Ag thrives on maintaining a vulnerable workforce. With line speeds doubling over the past half-century while wages have plummeted by 50% since 1975, workers—many undocumented—face crippling injuries and dangerous conditions while processing animals at breakneck speeds of up to six per minute.

• Immigration raids seemingly targeting farms may be part of a larger strategy to revise H2A visas
• 30-50% of meat industry workers are undocumented, with foreign-born workers comprising 60-90% in some industries in some states
• Ohio House unanimously passed a bill targeting plant-based alternatives and potentially banning lab-grown meat from schools and food stamp eligibility
• Recent food safety concerns include 92,000 pounds of recalled milk and a salmonella outbreak from eggs affecting seven states

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