Tyson Foods closes Iowa plant but looks to hire 42,000 immigrant workers

Tyson Foods says it would like to hire 42,000 immigrants to fill positions just days after the company announced it would close a plant in Iowa that employed about 1,200 people.

Tyson is joining Tent Partnership for Refugees, a nonprofit that works to get refugees hired, and it plans on hiring at least some of the more than 180,000 migrants who have gone through New York City's intake system over the past two years, Bloomberg reported last week.

About 42,000 of Tyson's 120,000 U.S. employees are immigrants, and Garrett Dolan, who is in charge of the company's efforts to overcome barriers to employment, including immigration status, said, "We would like to employ another 42,000 if we could find them."

Following the Bloomberg report, Tyson stressed that it only hires people who are legally authorized to work in the United States. 

"We have a history of strong hiring practices, and anybody who is legally able is welcome to apply to open job listings," the company said, according to Fox Business. "Tyson Foods is strongly opposed to illegal immigration, and we led the way in participating in the two major government programs to help employers combat unlawful employment, E-Verify and the Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers (IMAGE) program."

Meanwhile, the company said on Monday last week that it would permanently close a pork plant in Perry, Iowa, which would result in the elimination of about 1,200 jobs, per Reuters. 

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