Immigrants on the Line
Reveal
The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX
4.7 • 8K Ratings
🗓️ 1 February 2025
⏱️ 53 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Mackenson Remy didn’t plan to bypass security when he drove into the parking lot of a factory in Greeley, Colorado. He’d never been there before. All he knew was this place had jobs…lots of jobs.
Remy is originally from Haiti, and in 2023, he’d been making TikTok videos about job openings in the area for his few followers, mostly other Haitians.
What Remy didn’t know was that he had stumbled onto a meatpacking plant owned by the largest meat producer in the world, JBS. The video he made outside the facility went viral, and hundreds of Haitians moved for jobs at the plant.
But less than a year later, Remy—and JBS—were accused of human trafficking and exploitation by the union representing workers at the plant.
“This is America. I was hoping America to be better than back home,” says Tchelly Moise, a Haitian immigrant and union rep. “Someone needs to be held accountable for this, because this is not okay anywhere.”
This week on Reveal, reporter Ted Genoways with the Food & Environment Reporting Network looks into JBS’ long reliance on immigrant labor for this work—and its track record of not treating those workers well. The difference this time is those same workers are now targets of President Donald Trump's mass deportation agenda.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, it's Al. And before we get started, I wanted to let you know that this, well, this is a really big year for us. |
| 0:07.7 | 2025 marks Reveal's 10th anniversary, and we want to celebrate with you. |
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| 0:31.3 | Keep it short and sweet, unless you're talking about the host, under two minutes, please. |
| 0:35.2 | And we'll play some of your contributions on the air during |
| 0:39.3 | our special anniversary show again that number is 415 321-1775 we look forward to hearing from you |
| 0:48.6 | and stay tuned because you know there's always more to the story. |
| 1:04.1 | From the Center for Investigative Reporting in PRX, this is Reveal. |
| 1:05.2 | I'm Out Letton. |
| 1:08.5 | It started with a wrong turn. |
| 1:15.6 | Mackison Remy didn't plan to bypass security when he drove into the parking lot of a factory in Greeley, Colorado. |
| 1:17.6 | He'd never been there before. |
| 1:19.6 | All he knew was this place had jobs, lots of jobs. |
| 1:24.6 | Mackison is originally from Haiti. |
| 1:26.6 | He's in his 30s with braided hair and a thin beard. |
| 1:30.6 | He's been living in the U.S. for almost a decade now and recently moved to Colorado Springs. |
| 1:37.1 | At that time in December, 23, he'd been making TikTok videos about job openings in the area |
| 1:43.7 | for his few followers, |
| 1:45.4 | mostly other Haitians. |
| 1:47.2 | A huge influx of people from Haiti have been moving to the U.S. over the last few years, |
... |
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