The arrest of 1,282 suspected illegal immigrants at Swift & Co. meatpacking
plants leaves a boundless reservoir of questions. Not least of which – OK,
maybe it IS the least – is this:
Have Americans become too soft to do these jobs? Is it merely coincidence
that as immigrants take over many of our most physically taxing jobs, our
own citizens are battling an obesity epidemic?
Or is Swift not as committed
to diversity as it claims in its company mission statement and would rather
support a pipeline from Mexico than make a serious effort to recruit
unskilled U.S. workers from across our own country, including many who are
trying — or so we’re told — to wean themselves off welfare and could use
some opportunties?
Sure, meatpacking jobs are hard. Probably not as hard or dangerous as
working on a crab boat on the Bering Sea as people I know do for a living,
but hard nonetheless.
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