Fremont, Nebraska, population 27,000, has three massive meat-processing plants. As young locals leave in search of better jobs, Central American migrants have been taking their places in the slaughterhouses, especially after Costco opened a huge rotisserie chicken facility in 2019.
“We need these people,” said Mark Jensen, president of the city council. “We need this work done. This is what feeds the nation and the world.” But instead of a welcome mat, for more than a decade Fremont has had a controversial law on the books that tries to bar undocumented migrants from living within city limits. In 2010, residents voted 57% to 43% to require that all people renting property in Fremont must first sign a declaration that they are legally present in the U.S.
But instead of a welcome mat, for more than a decade Fremont has had a controversial law on the books that tries to bar undocumented migrants from living within city limits. In 2010, residents voted 57% to 43% to require that all people renting property in Fremont must first sign a declaration that they are legally present in the U.S.
Deep in the immigration debate are some dark truths that no one wants to acknowledge. It’s a huge problem that a town can’t survive without relatively poor migrant workers. It’s a problem that people in developed nations can’t, or won’t, do the necessary work that keeps their society running, so they must rely on there being people in less developed countries who are poor and desperate enough that they will come and do the work, for a low enough wage. If modern society MUST have poor, migrant workers to operate, then that means we MUST keep a certain percentage of the global population poor enough so that we in the developed world will always have a sufficient supply of cheap labor. We can’t allow all countries to achieve a level of industrial development and high enough living standards so that their people don’t have to seek economic opportunities elsewhere, or else we lose a necessary supply of cheap labor. It’s a dystopian reality.