Immigration Raids Disrupt Kansas Beef Plants, Ranchers Warn of Supply Strain

Immigration enforcement operations in Kansas are disrupting beef processing in a state that handles more than a fifth of US cattle slaughter, according to rancher industry groups and a union representing meatpacking employees.

Thousands of cattle scheduled for shipment to processors have been affected, and the groups reported interruptions at "numerous supply chain chokepoints" stretching from beef plants to feed and grain suppliers. The Kansas Livestock Association, the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association and the Texas Cattle Feeders Association said in a joint statement that the operations are exerting a heavy chilling effect on documented, skilled workers who keep the cattle supply chain moving.

A spokesperson for the United Food and Commercial Workers said employees at Cargill Inc. and National Beef have been detained. The enforcement actions occurred in the surrounding community, the spokesperson said, adding that immigration officials tried but could not enter meatpacking facility parking lots because they lacked warrants. The spokesperson described a significant drop in operations at area plants as worker absences rose.

National cattle slaughter totaled 90,000 head on Thursday, down 17,000 from a week earlier, according to the US Department of Agriculture. Kansas ranks second among states for commercial cattle processing, with more than half a million cattle slaughtered there in August — over 20% of national processing that month, a USDA report said.

National Beef, owned by Brazil's MBRF Global Foods Co., and Cargill both run operations in Dodge City, while National Beef also operates in Liberal. Tyson Foods Inc. has a plant in Holcomb. Cargill declined to comment, and National Beef and Tyson did not respond to requests for comment. The Department of Homeland Security and ICE also did not respond to a request for comment.

The disruption comes as US beef supplies are already constrained by a small cattle herd, pushing consumer prices to record highs. Immigrant labor is central to the sector: 45% of meatpacking workers at the start of the pandemic were foreign-born, according to the American Immigration Council.

ICE has intensified arrest efforts in recent months after a spring lull that followed deadly shootings in January that killed two US citizens. In July and August, the agency recorded roughly 50,000 arrests a month, based on federal arrest data and Department of Homeland Security disclosures. Its operational approach has shifted away from deploying federal agents to target a single city; expanded ranks are now spread nationwide, seeking people wanted for deportation while also arresting anyone suspected of being in the country without permission.