I don’t mean to say there are terrorists at Tyson Foods. I should be saying ‘Terrorists, TB and meatpackers,’ but it doesn’t have quite the same ring. Yesterday we learned that Iraqi refugees, alleged terrorists, were resettled in Bowling Green, Kentucky and at least one worked in meatpacking.
Today I’ll tell you about Burmese refugees (with TB and other health issues) recruited by Tyson Foods to work in meatpacking in Waterloo, Iowa. Actually if you are a long-time reader of RRW you know I’m a broken record on the subject of resettlement contractors (even supposedly church groups) and the US State Department supplying cheap immigrant labor to meatpacking giants. Until the meatpackers got addicted to immigrant labor (first it was illegal immigrant labor), meatpacking was a good and desirable well-paying job that Americans were happy to do.
Looks like Tyson, and maybe other meatpackers, have given up on the Somalis and their religious accommodation demands and have now moved along to the more malleable Burmese refugees.
We first learned about problems with Tuberculosis in the refugee community in 2007 from Allen County (Ft. Wayne) Indiana. Ultimately the county got additional funding from the US taxpayer to help them cope with refugee health issues.
From WCF Courier:
Nearly all of the Burmese who have come to Waterloo are “secondary migrants” who were resettled elsewhere after leaving refugee camps and then recruited by Tyson.
“Those who like it here and are finding good work are referring other refugees from other locations,” said Bruce Meisinger, director of public health for Black Hawk County. He expects their numbers to grow to at least 300 by the end of the year as additional workers and family members arrive from other places.
Since the influx began, the Black Hawk County Health Department — which Meisinger oversees — has been leading efforts to provide support for the Burmese. He said the main reason the department got involved with the refugees was to screen, test and treat them for tuberculosis.
“Virtually all of the cases of TB we have are from persons not born in the United States,” Meisinger said. “You inevitably come across other health concerns. We’re fulfilling a need to coordinate for multiple health issues.”
Michelle Devlin, a UNI professor and director of the Iowa Center on Health Disparity, said recently arrived refugees will often experience changes in health because of new diets and less physical activity. Foods they have traditionally eaten may not be readily available. Instead, they have easy access to simple carbohydrates, junk food, and canned or processed food.
“We always take a look at refugee dental issues,” she said. “We like to take a look at safety issues or accident issues.” Mental health concerns, like the possibility of post-traumatic stress disorder, are another area of focus for public health officials.
Some of the new arrivals may have witnessed ethnic conflict or genocide. They may suffer from depression, anxiety, loneliness, culture shock or “cultural bereavement” — grieving for the loss of the culture they left behind. [Oh, but we all know life will be better in the US working in slaughter houses! They will get used to it! Right!—ed]
The health department is working with Tyson to meet other needs of the refugees, as well. Tyson staff have helped the new employees find housing, get driver’s licenses and worked with local agencies [This means local welfare agencies, like those that distribute food stamps. Tyson gets the cheap labor and the taxpayer supports the needs of the refugee family-–ed]
Read it all. Sorry I am out of time today to give you a lot of links, but our first evidence that politicians were working to bring refugee labor to meatpackers was from this story about the Clinton Administration supplying Bosnian labor for IBP (ultimately sold to Tyson Foods) in Iowa. And, interestingly we now know they must also have resettled Bosnians to Bowling Green as well.