(Bloomberg) -- Indiana’s attorney general is asking Tyson Foods Inc. about its labor recruiting as part of a broader investigation into illegal immigration, signaling a tougher environment for an industry that relies heavily on foreign labor.
Todd Rokita sent a civil investigative demand to Tyson Foods in Logansport seeking information related to human labor trafficking, his office said in a statement. While Tyson itself isn’t under formal investigation, the attorney general said the broader probe is focused on the “coordinated efforts” by nonprofits and businesses to bring “large numbers of migrants to Indiana.”
The move by Rokita, a supporter of Donald Trump, offers a glimpse of how meat processors can come under more intense scrutiny if the president-elect moves forward with a major crackdown on immigrant labor. Trump has confirmed he plans to use the military to carry out what he’s vowed will be the largest mass deportation in US history.
Companies such as Tyson and JBS SA rely on foreign workers for hard-to-fill jobs at its beef, chicken and pork factories across the country and have benefited from the surge in immigration during Joe Biden’s presidency.
“When you have an open border and an influx of people coming over illegally by the millions, we can’t have companies incentivizing this criminal behavior by offering jobs for cheap labor,” Rokita said in the statement. “The vast number of additional people coming into our communities is alarming, and that’s just from the standpoint of seeing the staggering number of resources being put towards this fight.”
While Tyson is based in Arkansas, it has a pork plant in Logansport, Indiana. The attorney general has sent similar requests for information to nonprofits including Tent Partnership for Refugees, which connects refugees to jobs and has previously worked with Tyson, and packaging company Berry Global Group.
Tyson Foods must respond in writing to the questions by Dec. 4, according to the statement.
In an email, a company spokesperson said Tyson Foods is complying with the request and “demonstrating how seriously we follow all labor laws and regulations.” Everyone working at the Logansport facility is legally authorized to do so and the majority of those team members are American citizens or permanent residents, the spokesperson said.
Tent Partnership and Berry Global did not respond to requests for comment.
Trump has selected South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to lead the Department of Homeland Security and Tom Homan, the former acting head of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, to serve as his border czar. Homan was the public face of Trump’s “zero tolerance” immigration policies during the president-elect’s first term.
The US Department of Agriculture has said nearly half of hired crop farmworkers lack legal immigration status.
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