Across Iowa and rural America, we need immigrants

In Greene County in 2017, I was told the grain elevator needed about 40 seasonal workers to help with the fall harvest. Those hiring were unable to find even one U.S. citizen to apply for the job. When I used that on the campaign trail, I saw a lot of head nodding, and I heard similar stories in small towns across the district.

In Sioux City and in Eagle Grove, two new pork plants have opened. The executives of these companies were clear that there wasn’t enough labor in the area to support the plants and that they would need to bring in an immigrant workforce. It took more than a year before the one in Sioux City was able to start a second shift.

The reality is that there is a lack of vision from our elected officials in Washington to help revive rural areas suffering from depopulation. I agree with Matt Hildreth, chairman of RuralOrganizing.org, that in rural America we need to increase wages, decrease daily expenses and defend the rural way of life.