Tyson Foods slapped with civil rights complaints over 'un-American' migrant hiring bonanza

Tyson Foods has been slapped with a series of civil rights complaints accusing the meat-packing firm of discriminating against American workers and favoring migrants.

America First Legal (AFL), a conservative group, filed several civil rights complaints against the $54 billion firm on Wednesday, saying it offered perks to migrants that it denied to US citizens.

Tyson faced a boycott in March from conservatives, who were angry that the company was axing 1,300 workers at an Iowa pork plant while hiring scores of newcomer migrants in New York City.

The company says it does not favor migrant labor over Americans.

Reed Rubinstein, an AFL lawyer, accused Tyson executives of acting like 'global citizens who live and work in the US by happenstance.'

Tyson announced plans to double its number of migrant employees to 84,000 this year, including roles at this plant in Springdale, Arkansas 

Tyson Foods recruiters offered 'job-and-lawyer' packages to new migrant arrivals in New York 

'Our citizens and consumers deserve companies that put America and her people first,' Rubinstein said.

His group filed a federal civil rights complaint with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and also asked the Department of Justice and the Iowa Civil Rights Commission to probe the company.

AFL, which is led by former Trump administration officials, also wrote to Tyson's CEO Donnie King and its board.

The complaints refer to the roughly 42,000 migrants among Tyson's 120,000-strong workforce.

They refer to the shuttering of a plant in Perry, Iowa, which was announced in March.

Meanwhile, the company's corporate responsibility boss Garrett Dolan said Tyson wanted to double its number of immigrant employees to 84,000 in 2024, the papers say.

The letters refer to Tyson's partnership with the Tent Foundation and a 2022 pledge to hire 2,500 refugees in the US over three years.

The company also spends $1.5 million each year on helping migrants pay lawyers to get US papers and work permits, AFL says.

King, the Tyson boss, said the company spent $2.4 million on migrant legal aid in an annual report, the complaint says.

The closure of Tyson's pork plant in Perry, Iowa, and loss of 1,300 led to a boycott of the company in March 

Conservatives on social media called for a boycott of Tyson and its various food brands

The company 'does not provide similar benefits to American citizens,' AFL adds.

The documents also refer to Tyson's record of hiring underage migrants in dangerous overnight cleaning shifts, and its diversity-hiring targets.

Reed Rubinstein, an AFL lawyer

The various policies amount to discrimination against US workers, and Tyson needs to be probed, says the complaint.

The company, which is headquartered in Springdale, Arkansas, did not answer DailyMail.com's request for comment.

During the boycott in March, Tyson said it was not cutting American jobs to hire migrants, and that it only recruited newcomers with work permits.

'Any insinuation that we would cut American jobs to hire immigrant workers is completely false,' Tyson said in a statement.

Industry insiders told DailyMail.com that meatpacking firms often target migrants because Americans aren't interested in the low pay and unpleasant conditions.

Many of those who lost their jobs in Perry were themselves migrants.

Meat-packing plants are undesirable places to work, and Tyson says it has lots of vacancies to fill amid a low unemployment rate of 3.9 percent.

Tyson’s $13 million-a-year CEO Donnie King has led the company since 2021

Tyson Foods brands include Tyson, Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farm, Ball Park, Wright, and Aidells

But conservatives on social media accused the company of being unpatriotic.

The EEOC, which enforces laws against workplace discrimination, does not have to act on complaints, which have shot up in recent years.

AFL has filed complaints with the EEOC targeting workplace diversity schemes by the NFL, Major League Baseball and dozens of companies, including Starbucks, McDonald's, Morgan Stanley, Activision Blizzard and Kellogg.

The complaints against Tyson play into fears that Democrats, globalists, and big corporations encourage migrants to flow into the US as part of a 'great replacement' of US workers and voters.

They raise tough questions for Tyson's $13 million-a-year CEO King, who has led the firm since 2021, during which time it has funded the campaign chests of President Joe Biden, Nikki Haley and others, according to Open Secrets.

The company made $52,881 million in sales last year through its Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farm, Ball Park, Wright, Aidells, and other brands.