Put on ICE? Effects of Immigration Raids in the Animal Slaughtering and Processing Industry

2022/05/01 by Pia M. Orrenius, Madeline Zavodny · 1 voice
Health Professions · Social Sciences · #Employment and Welfare Studies #Migration and Labor Dynamics #Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy

paper · doi:10.1257/pandp.20221024

openalex publication_date 2022/05/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/11

Abstract

The animal slaughtering and processing industry was the epicenter of work site immigration raids from 2006 to 2008 that were aimed at rooting out unauthorized immigrant workers in the United States. This study examines whether the industry shifted toward legal workers in the wake of the raids and whether wages, worker turnover, and other labor market outcomes changed as well. We find that the industry initially shifted toward legal foreign-born workers, particularly refugees, but the change faded over time. We also find a substantial increase in industry worker turnover, but not in average wages, at the national level.

Discussions

• This article by Pia Orrenius and me seems relevant again. We examine the fallout from meatpacking & poultry processing raids during the Bush admin, a precursor to the Trump raids in 2019 and the futur [bsky, 7 points, 1 comments]

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