Thread: Special report: Are jobs in jeopardy for the Hispanic commun

Special report: Are jobs in jeopardy for the Hispanic community?

austindailyherald.com
By Trey Mewes
Published 11:47am Monday, November 14, 2011

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,’â€

Copied from their website:

Ashley will provide the Social Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security with information from each new employee's Form I-9 to confirm work authorization.

Lets hope they catch Juan, since he is illegal.