ICE raids in states that overwhelmingly voted for Trump are costing meatpackers millions of dollars.
Meat industry groups raised concerns Friday that recent increased immigration operations in Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma have led to employee absences from work, leading to problems at meat-related businesses that could ultimately raise prices for consumers.
The Texas Cattle Feeders Association, the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association and the Kansas Livestock Association said in a statement that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations have caused delays in shipping thousands of cattle, resulting in millions of dollars in lost revenue. The groups say ICE operations have disrupted operations at feedlots, dairy processors, feed and grain companies, and transportation hubs.
Scarlett Mabinger, vice president of communications for the Kansas Livestock Association, said she received several calls from her members reporting increased absences at their businesses in southwest Kansas after those communities noticed an increase in federal immigration agents this week.
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed its presence in Kansas but said it was not conducting workplace raids.
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a statement that ICE was “targeting heinous criminals,” but he did not provide details on the number of people arrested.
Several meatpacking plants in the Kansas towns of Dodge City, Liberal and Garden City typically process thousands of cattle each day, but Mabinger said some have had to close temporarily and return cattle to feedlots.
“So they have to be taken back to the feedlot to wait, which of course leads to an animal health problem and financial problems,” she said.
The Kansas Livestock Association has not received any reports of arrests at the job sites, but community members began to notice the arrival of officers Tuesday.
Amy Soberanes, a 25-year-old community organizer in Dodge City, Kansas, helps deliver food to people who are afraid to leave their homes. She said cleaning crews stopped showing up at some locations, forcing factories to close.
“I’ve worked with so many mothers who told me they didn’t know what they were going to do because their provider was taken away,” Soberanes said. “I saw children crying because their mother and father were gone. It caused a lot of pain, a lot of pain and a lot of trauma for our community.”
Several of the Kansas cities where ICE enforcement appears to have increased have large Hispanic populations. Their population has grown over the past decade thanks to the arrival of new immigrants, mainly from Cuba and Haiti, according to federal data obtained and analyzed by The Associated Press.
Voters in these counties largely favored Donald Trump in the last election, with more than 65% voting for the Republican Party.
Republican politicians, who have generally sided with Trump on immigration, are making cautious shifts in their messaging.
Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall, an incumbent Republican in a tight race against a Democrat, and Sen. Jerry Moran both expressed concerns and urged the federal administration to coordinate with local officials. “Secretary Mullin assured me that these warrants are intended solely to arrest individuals accused of criminal activity,” Moran said in a statement shared on social media.
The administration has repeatedly claimed to target immigrants with criminal histories, but recent data suggests that more than half of those arrested in July had not been convicted of any crime and faced no criminal charges. Less than a quarter of those arrested had been convicted of a crime.
Members of the Kansas Livestock Association are urging federal authorities to pursue more targeted enforcement actions and provide more transparency.
Beef prices have reached record highs over the past year, largely driven by the nation’s smallest herd in 75 years. The Trump administration has made efforts to lower prices, such as allowing some beef imports without high tariffs and reopening the border to livestock from Mexico, which had been closed because of the outbreak of a pest that can be deadly to livestock called the New World butcherworm.
“If this goes on long enough, it could lead to higher prices because we’re not processing the amount of beef that consumers are currently demanding,” Mabinger said.
Gn usa
