Georgia immigration raids returned jobs to local black workers

Last September, federal immigration agents raided a Stillmore, Georgia chicken-processing company named Crider Inc. Crider lost 75 percent of its 900-member work force following the raid, but fall and early winter returned many of the jobs to local African Americans. In the late 1990s, large numbers of Latinos arrived in the area. Working for lower wages, they replaced the blacks who had been working for Crider.

After the raids, Crider raised pay at the plant, and offered free transportation from nearby towns. For the first time in years, the company aggressively sought workers from the area’s employment offices.

The sudden reversal of economic fortunes in a Georgia town clearly displays the answer to the question: Do illegal immigrants take jobs from low-skilled American workers? The answer in Stillmore is yes. The impact of immigration on low-wage American workers should come under increasing scrutiny as the Congress considers immigration reform.