The town that can’t live without migrants, but isn't sure it wants to live with them

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The town that can’t live without migrants, but isn't sure it wants to live with them
nbcnews.com

Fremont, Nebraska, has three massive meat-processing plants that need workers. It also requires anyone renting a home to sign a declaration that they’re in the U.S. legally.

Big-city mayors may be complaining about the economic impact of an influx of migrants, but the residents of a small city near Omaha can’t decide how they feel.

Fremont, Nebraska, population 27,000, has three massive meat-processing plants. As young locals leave in search of better jobs, Central American migrants have been taking their places in the slaughterhouses, especially after Costco opened a huge rotisserie chicken facility in 2019.

“We need these people,” said Mark Jensen, president of the city council. “We need this work done. This is what feeds the nation and the world.”

But instead of a welcome mat, for more than a decade Fremont has had a controversial law on the books that tries to bar undocumented migrants from living within city limits. In 2010, residents voted 57% to 43% to require that all people renting property in Fremont must first sign a declaration that they are legally present in the U.S.

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They want migrants to come work the hardest, shittiest jobs but they want them to all live in the crappy housing outside the city limits because the townsfolk don't actually consider immigrants to be human beings. That was the gist of the article as I read it anyway...

And don’t forget have no rights so that if they step out of line, they get deported. Permanent underclass.

Ask these same people whether these workers deserve protections (e.g. a union), health benefits, or other safety nets and they’ll scream and shout.

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