August 2007 -- According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the average worker at a meatpacking plant earns 35 percent less an hour than they did 30 years ago. And some labor experts say immigration is a factor in these declining wages. "Wage depression" is a term being used to describe the effect of companies artificially keeping wages down by employing illegal immigrants willing to work for a lower wage.
In a federal lawsuit in Cactus, Texas, former American workers accused a Swift meatpacking plant of doing just that. The workers claim their loss of income and declining standard of living is a direct result of the plant's illegal hiring practices. The owner of the country's second largest meatpacking plant, has stated the accusations to be false.
Last year, federal immigration agents raided several plants across the country, arresting more than a thousand illegal immigrants.
Produced for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)
