Tyson Foods processes one of every five pounds of chicken, beef and pork sold in America. The company has a large presence in grocery stores and is the manufacturer of brands like Ball Park and Hillshire Farm. A fund that is conservative in nature is designed for investors who prioritize preserving their capital and have a low risk tolerance. These funds typically have an investment horizon of three years or less.
The Company’s Hiring of Migrants and Refugees
The investment fund American Conservative Values ETF (ACVF), which was launched in 2020 to boycott companies perceived to have a political bias, has dropped Tyson Foods from its portfolio and given the company a “refused to buy” rating. This action follows a March 11 Bloomberg news story reporting that the meatpacker plans to hire asylum seekers in an effort to fill factory vacancies. This prompted speculation that Tyson would be laying off U.S. workers to prioritize the hiring of migrants, triggering a conservative backlash and creating a firestorm of misinformation about the company’s practices.
In fact, most of Tyson’s 120,000 employees are American citizens or permanent residents with work permits, the Congressional Research Service reports. The remaining workers are refugees or noncitizens who have a legal right to work in the United States, such as those seeking asylum. “Any insinuation that we are cutting American jobs in order to hire immigrants is false,” Tyson said in a statement (archived here).
The company is also working to retain its current employees by offering on-site child care, transportation and English classes, the Congressional Research Service notes. It also provides legal services to workers and participates in government programs that help combat unlawful employment, including E-Verify and the IMAGE program. These efforts are unrelated to the closing of a Tyson plant in Perry, Iowa, which is expected to eliminate 1,200 jobs in the town of 8,000.
Mainstream Media Coverage
The US meat processing industry is highly consolidated, and Tyson Foods has a particularly large share of the market. It processes one of every five pounds of chicken, beef and pork sold in this country. It owns a slew of popular brands like Ball Park, Hillshire Farm, Jimmy Dean and Sara Lee. The company is a huge economic force, and it can be hard to avoid its products, as they are in many schools and fast-food chains.
Last year, the company faced a series of accusations from workers’ rights activists that it employed children and used undocumented immigrants in its slaughterhouses and plants. This fall, the Department of Labor opened a probe into two major companies—Tyson and rival Perdue—for child labor violations.
While these allegations are troubling, it’s important to take a look at the facts and context. First, let’s address the claim that Tyson is “hiring 52,000 migrants.” This number was a statistic thrown out by Fox Business Network host Sean P. Duffy during a segment that focused on Tyson closing a plant in Perry, Iowa, and laying off 1,200 local workers.
The underlying point of the segment was that US citizens are being displaced by immigrants. However, the skewed statistics and outrage were taken out of context, and they were a prime example of how events can be weaponized by the media to promote a political agenda.
Social Media Demonization
Amid a growing debate over border security, Tyson Foods has been accused of hiring illegal immigrants. A viral social media post has led to calls for boycotts, claiming that the company is laying off US workers while bringing in migrants to replace them. However, the company is not engaging in such practices and is a longtime employer of legal immigrant workers. In fact, its policy requires that any employees hired outside of the US be legally authorized to work in the country.
Nevertheless, many conservative investors are wary of Tyson’s decision to hire migrants and refugees. According to Ridgeline Research LLC CEO Bill Flaig, the company’s move could alienate a large portion of its customer base. This apprehension is related to Tyson’s partnership with the non-profit Tent Partnership for Refugees, which was started by Chobani yogurt founder Hamdi Ulukaya. In 2022, the company committed to hiring 2,500 refugees over three years as part of the initiative.
Regardless, Tyson’s spokesperson insists that the company has a strong history of good hiring practices and will continue to look for qualified candidates. The spokesperson also emphasized that the company opposes illegal immigration and has been a leader in participating in government programs such as E-Verify and the IMAGE program. The company has 120,000 team members in the United States, all of whom must be legally authorized to work on US soil.
The Message
It’s no secret that Tyson Foods employs many immigrant workers. And the company has taken steps to support them, such as partnering with Tent Partnership for Refugees in 2022 and investing in partnerships like Immigrant Connection to help their team members gain legal assistance and citizenship services.
But the company’s efforts haven’t stopped a conservative investment fund from divesting from its stock in retaliation for highlighting these facts and the company’s stance on immigration. In a scathing segment on Fox Business, the investment firm called American Conservative Values ETF (ACVF) called for its investors to “refuse to buy” Tyson Foods stock.
ACVF’s CEO and founder Bill Flaig pointed out that the firm’s investment in Tyson Foods is “very small.” But it shows that conservative investors are starting to recognize the value of fighting the “woke liberal takeover” with their investments.
ACVF’s decision is a reminder of how important it is for everyone to stand up and speak out on issues that are important to them. Being lukewarm is often viewed as a sign of cowardice, and being a fence sitter in controversial topics can be dangerous. Instead, we should be loudly and proudly calling out companies who are trying to force the government’s hand. The truth is that companies like Tyson Foods have enormous leverage over our food and farming system. Using vertical integration, the company controls every aspect of production, from breeding chickens to transporting and processing them. This market dominance enables them to impose unfair labor standards on their workers and farmland owners, pollute communities with toxic waste, and stiff their buyers—all while top executives make billions of do
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