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# GRAPHIC: More meatpacking companies are using temporary visa labor
- URL: https://www.investigatemidwest.org/graphic-more-meatpacking-companies-are-using-temporary-visa-labor/
- Published: 2021-02-03T20:33:51.000Z
- Updated: 2021-02-03T20:33:51.000Z
- Description: The number of companies using these visas is small compared to the entire industry, but a trend has emerged over the past several years.
- Author: Sky Chadde, Investigate Midwest
- Tags: Labor, Meat industry, Data Harvest, TP::Explainer, meatpacking, visas, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-06-18 04:56

Meatpacking companies have long relied on immigrant workers to staff the dangerous plants that kill, cut and package America's protein. The federal government [has estimated](https://www.investigatemidwest.org/cheap-chicken-beef-came-at-a-cost-how-american-meat-plants-bred-coronavirus-hot-spots/) that more than a quarter of the industry's workforce are foreign-born non-citizens.

But, since 2015, the number of meatpacking companies employing people on temporary work visas has nearly doubled, [according to data from the U.S. Department of Labor](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/foreign-labor/performance?ref=investigatemidwest.org).

The number of companies using these visas is small compared to the entire industry, but a trend has emerged over the past several years.

Under the H2B visa program, employers [hire](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/immigration/h2b?ref=investigatemidwest.org) foreign workers to come to the U.S. for a certain period of time, usually just for a season or during the employer's busiest production time.

For instance, Triumph Foods in St. Joseph, Missouri — [which USA Today and the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting investigated last year for its practices during the COVID-19 pandemic](https://www.investigatemidwest.org/they-think-workers-are-like-dogs-how-pork-plant-execs-sacrificed-safety-for-profits/) — hired 100 foreign workers late in 2019 to help with its peak season, according to labor department data.

H2B visas are for non-agricultural jobs. [People on H2A visas pick the fruits and vegetables America depends on](https://www.investigatemidwest.org/these-farmworkers-were-forced-to-labor-on-empty-stomachs/).

*DATA ANALYSIS: The data for this graphic comes from the U.S. Department of Labor's [performance data](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/foreign-labor/performance?ref=investigatemidwest.org). "Meatpacking" was defined as having an NAICS code of 311611, 311612, 311613 or 311615\. [OSHA uses the first three codes to define "meatpacking."](https://www.osha.gov/meatpacking/standards?ref=investigatemidwest.org) The fourth code is poultry processing. Prior to 2015, the performance data on the DOL's website does not include NAICS codes, making comparison to previous years difficult.*