Immigration issues redefine catfish industry in Mississippi Delta

“Though the gains from organizing have been modest, White, now a union representative, says they have eroded in recent years as undocumented Hispanics entered Mississippi’s catfish industry willing to work for lower wages and fewer benefits.

Far from the Delta, from Los Angeles to Chicago to Washington, the debate about immigration reform often centers on people coming to this country to do work most Americans don’t want to do.

That may not be the case in the Delta, where in some counties 40 percent of black residents live below the poverty line and the jobs left for low-skilled workers often are in food-processing plants, particularly those in the $275 million-a-year catfish industry.”

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