Cost of bacon: Once essential workers in meatpacking during COVID pandemic now face forced deportation
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, while much of the country sheltered at home, thousands of immigrant and undocumented workers stood shoulder-to-shoulder in meatpacking plants, processing lines, and slaughterhouses. They worked under fluorescent lights in rooms so cold their hands cramped, breathing air thick with the smell of blood and disinfectant. Masks were scarce. Distancing was impossible. The virus spread like wildfire. These workers — many from Mexico, Central America, and refugee communities from Southeast Asia and Africa — were labeled “essential” by federal order. That designation meant they were expected to keep showing up even as infectious...
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