VivirLatino

Sure, almost 90 percent of the Greeley plant workforce was made up of Mexicans, considering that over 500 were found to be working there illegally. In December of 2004, 800 American workers were laid off and replaced by illegal workers out of Mexico. In fact prior to the ICE operation, 200 workers at Swift alone were quietly dismissed. Swift is now hiring back American workers providing them with increased wages, benefits and bonuses. The reality is not less Latinos, but illegals are not being hired. I imagine if Swift could smuggle in illegal Chinese workers, they would do it. Say, isn't Mexico now sporting up to 32 billionaires, and untold millionaires? Some things never change.

Swift, Greeley plant: Shortly after the raid, there was line out the door of potential applicants looking for work at SWIFT in Greeley.

These are jobs AMERICANS (of all races/creeds) will do....

Now Hiring
INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY

Posted 12/21/2006

Immigration: After last week's raids at meatpacking plants, applicants were lining up to fill the vacant jobs. It's reality-check time for the theory that illegals are needed to do work that Americans shun.

Few would call it a dream job. But the position of slaughterer at the Swift & Co. plant in Greeley, Colo., was drawing some interest last week after the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency created some openings.

The Rocky Mountain News observed that the line of applicants "was out the door" at the county employment office. One of them, Derrick Stegall, said two of his friends had been taken away in the immigration raid and he "felt compelled to fill their rubber boots," as the paper put it.

Another was Nathan Korgen, a former construction worker looking for a Swift job in production or fabrication. Referring to reports that illegals with families had been rounded up and separated from their children, he said, "I feel bad for the kids, but good for me."

Meanwhile in Nebraska, union officials said Tuesday that 40 to 50 workers had been hired at the Grand Island plant, one of six Swift plants raided by the ICE in a sweep that led to nearly 1,300 arrests. And funny thing — they say Swift has been improving its wages, benefits and bonuses since before the raids.

As United Food and Commercial Workers spokeswoman Jill Cashen told the Associated Press: "They're trying to staff up their plants, and they've been raising their wages the past few weeks."

It's not clear at this writing if Swift saw the raids coming. What's clear is that its upgraded compensation is drawing more non-Hispanic white job-seekers, who made up most of the new hires at Grand Island. These are people who don't fit the profile of the typical meatpacking worker.

"To me," said Cashen, "it's an example that when you make the job more attractive you get a different kind of applicant."

An interesting test case is emerging from all this news. We may finally see if one of the cherished ideas of the open-borders lobby really holds up. This is the theory that illegals are hired not because they work for poverty-level wages and scant benefits, but because legal residents and American citizens wouldn't take their jobs at any reasonable price.