Unemployed locals resent local jobs going to out-of-town immigrants

Locals in Shelbyville, Tenn. aren’t happy with who they’re having to compete with for jobs at the town’s Tyson Foods Plant. As millions of unemployed Americans are looking for any kind of work, many, like the ones in Tennessee, are finding themselves competing with foreign workers for jobs in their own hometowns.

Recently, the Shelbyville employment office was accepting applications for a $9.35 per hour job processing chickens for Tyson Foods, but the day before the office began taking applications, long lines formed outside the office filled with foreign workers coming from as far away as Idaho and Florida.

Shelbyville-local David Curtis couldn’t find work as a welder and even tried at a convenience store, pen factory and Pizza Hut. He lined up for the Tyson’s job.

“This is the worst job I have ever applied for,” Curtis said in a Wall Street Journal article. “I’m very annoyed foreigners are taking jobs that Americans need.”

Jobs in chicken processing plants used to be labeled as “jobs Americans won’t do,” but with the current recession and nearly 14 million unemployed, American workers are trying to land jobs in agriculture, meat processing and office cleaning.

According to the American Meat Institute, processing plants are reporting a surge in applications from American born workers. Until a slew of recent ICE raids, including the one in Postville, Iowa, meat processing plants relied heavily on illegal labor. Tyson Foods, who utilizes E-Verify in its hiring process is also reporting a surge in applications from U.S.-born workers, not just in Tennessee, but across the country.

For more on this story, see the Wall Street Journal.