Dozens of Hispanic workers reportedly leaving Quality Pork

Editor’s note: This is the second in an ongoing series on reverse immigration in Austin.

Maria is a hard-working mom. She has children at Austin Public Schools and until recently she had a job to support her family. Juan’s story is similar. He has a wife in Mexico, children in college and grandkids to look out for. He, too, was working until recently.

Both recently left their jobs because their names were on a list of people who didn’t have legal immigration status.

Juan and Maria are among many Hispanics who worked at Quality Pork Processors in Austin, often for many years, but who quit or were terminated during the past couple of months. (Juan and Maria both spoke to the Herald on condition that their real names not be used, because neither is a legal immigrant.)

Members of the Hispanic community told the Herald that 30 to 40 people a week and sometimes as many as 80 a week have been leaving QPP. Company officials said high turnover is common this time of year, but current and former workers said people are leaving due to increasing employment eligibility checks.

The exodus mirrors a national trend in which Hispanics, regardless of immigration status, are leaving places with tough immigration stances or laws.

Former and current QPP workers said executives held a company-wide meeting in early September to tell them the company was involved in a new U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement program known as IMAGE, an acronym for ICE Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers.

Many big-name companies — Hyatt, Chick-fil-A, Best Western International and Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing North America among them — are working with ICE, with more doing so every year. Participants promise to use ICE’s E-Verify employment eligibility checking system, establish an employment eligibility checking policy which includes I-9 audits, and submit to an I-9 inspection. In return, ICE eases or waives potential fines for I-9 violations, provides I-9 form training and won’t conduct an I-9 inspection for two years.

“The IMAGE program is a business coming to the government saying ‘We would like to work with you,’” said ICE spokesman Shawn Neudauer.

A company can also adopt IMAGE Best Employment Practices, 12 steps that include using a federal service to cross-check workers’ Social Security numbers. The 12 steps were mandatory until ICE streamlined the application process in June. QPP already uses E-Verify, has worked to become IMAGE certified for several years and had its I-9 audit earlier this year.

“It’s just another tool to make sure we’re in compliance with the law,” said Kelly Wadding, QPP president.

Workers told the Herald that 900 out of the company’s more than 1,300 employees were on a list of questionable identities, but Wadding said that claim is greatly exaggerated. He said QPP would not have shared with its employees data on how many workers were on a list of suspected illegal immigrants. Nor, he said, are workers leaving the company or being fired at such a high rate.

“That is not correct, we can tell you that,” Wadding said.

QPP officials told workers that if their documentation was suspect, the company would provide transportation to the Social Security office in St. Paul so workers could settle their legal status. The company also reportedly gave employees until Jan. 1 to get their immigration status clarified.

“People were scared,” said Rodrigo, a QPP worker who is a U.S. citizen but did not want his name published because he is not authorized to speak to the media. Rodrigo didn’t have to worry about his job, because his name wasn’t on the list. Juan and Maria’s names were, however.

Waiting for the call

Juan didn’t quit right away, though he knew many people who went home and never came back after the company meeting.

Juan wanted to work until the end of December. He was called to the personnel office less than a month after the meeting, however, and told his name was on the list of those whose documentation was suspect. Juan wasn’t surprised, but he said the two workers ahead of him in line were.

“They got very mad because they were legal,” Juan said.

ICE spokesman Neudauer said there are times when an I-9 audit will call a legal citizen’s identity into question, which means a citizen may be the victim of identity theft.

“A lot of times, this is why it’s such a big problem,” he said. “Identity theft in illegal aliens is quite high.”

Maria was worried about her job. She had a family to support and had worked at QPP for almost 10 years. Yet she knew her name would be on the list.

“I was just waiting for the time when they would call me into the office and fire me,” she said.

It didn’t happen immediately. Maria said her supervisor took her aside one day, asking how her family was. He told her to go to the office, where QPP officials told her that her name was on the list. Her supervisor caught up to her before she left, head hung low. He told her he was sorry, but there was nothing that could be done.

There was nothing to be done for Juan either. One of the new workers and a supervisor came up to him one day about an hour after he started his shift. The supervisor told Juan to go to the office. The new worker told Juan he would take Juan’s place.

“It’s nice to know that you don’t come in tomorrow to work,” Juan said. “It’s nice to know. That way you don’t have to go through all that embarrassment.”

Juan admitted he was here illegally when QPP officials talked to him. They told him they weren’t firing him but his name was on the list. Juan quit that day.

A rising trend

QPP officials said the company is adding more workers and expanding production by hiring local workers. The company has advertised job openings since the beginning of October.

QPP workers said the company is hiring more African and Asian refugees as well. Maria, Juan, Rodrigo and others said Latino workers are afraid to train in new workers now.

“If they say you’re training somebody, then you’re next,” Juan said.

They said firings take place towards the end of the week. Juan and Maria’s last days were on a Thursday and Friday, like many workers. They said workers who aren’t called to the office on Friday tell each other they’re safe for another week.

“If you pass after 4:30 (p.m.), you’re safe for now,” Juan said. “You work another week.”

Since they’re here illegally, there’s no recourse for undocumented workers like Juan and Maria. QPP is adhering to the law by firing undocumented workers.

“A lot of employers are looking at it as ‘what can I do to protect my business? What can I do to protect my employees?’” Neudauer said. “This is one tool to help you do the right thing.”

Local community and government leaders have heard about the high turnover and the new workers coming into the area.

“I’ve heard it just about like you’re telling me,” Mayor Tom Stiehm said. Though Stiehm is happy to welcome new residents into the community, he said there’s not much the city can do for displaced workers, since it’s a federal issue.

Maria and Juan are looking for work. They’re applying to places like Arcadia, Wis., where the Ashley Furniture plant is hiring. Rodrigo’s best friend moved there after he was let go, though Rodrigo said his friend was a U.S. citizen. Many Austin residents are moving there, and to Postville, Iowa, and St. Joseph, Mo., where there are meat processing plants. They’re going where the jobs are.

“I have to work,” Juan said. “I’m not worried about finding a job. I have a lot of skills.”