OMAHA, Neb. (BN24) — A federal immigration raid on a meat processing plant in Omaha, Nebraska, has left Glenn Valley Foods operating with just 30% of its workforce, raising fears over broader disruptions to the U.S. meat supply chain amid record-high beef prices and a nationwide labor shortage.
On Tuesday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained between 74 and 76 workers—more than half of the plant’s 140 employees—during a targeted operation, according to Glenn Valley Foods President Chad Hartmann. By Wednesday, the plant’s production had plummeted to roughly 20% of normal output, with additional workers staying home due to trauma or fear following the sweep.
“The hole that got punched into our business is staffing,” Hartmann said. “We’re now working to figure out how long it will take to rebuild our workforce.”
The facility produces beef, chicken, and corned beef products for restaurants and grocery chains, according to the company’s website.
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed that a criminal investigation is underway into what officials described as a “large-scale employment” of immigrants present in the United States unlawfully. ICE released footage of agents handcuffing and detaining workers, underscoring the scale and intensity of the enforcement action.
The raid came at a precarious time for the meatpacking industry. Beef prices have surged amid a shrinking U.S. cattle herd, now at its smallest size in seven decades due to prolonged drought and rising feed costs. Despite these challenges, consumer demand for beef remains robust.
The surprise ICE operation immediately rattled livestock markets. On Tuesday, cattle futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange fell as traders braced for a potential slowdown in processing demand. Analysts warned that labor disruptions could curb meatpackers’ capacity to purchase and process cattle from farms.
“There’s certainly going to be nervousness out there on where the labor situation goes, going forward,” said Matt Wiegand, a commodity broker at FuturesOne in Nebraska.
Julie Anna Potts, president of the North American Meat Institute, emphasized that the industry is still struggling with labor shortages worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. Major producers such as Tyson Foods and JBS USA were forced to close plants in 2020 due to staffing shortfalls, and full recovery remains elusive.
More than half of U.S. meatpacking workers are immigrants, according to data from the Center for Economic and Policy Research. Enforcement actions targeting undocumented workers threaten to deepen the workforce crisis and disrupt food production.
Hartmann said Glenn Valley Foods used E-Verify, the federal system for confirming employment eligibility. Homeland Security officials told him there was “no better system” currently available, he said, but the raid has cast new doubts on the tool’s reliability.
“We will have to continue to use it,” Hartmann said, despite its apparent shortcomings.
ICE officials have ramped up enforcement efforts in recent weeks in line with President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda, which includes record levels of deportations. Over the weekend, tensions flared in Los Angeles, where ICE agents detained migrants at retail stores and industrial sites. Demonstrations erupted Tuesday night in New York, Atlanta and Chicago in response to the aggressive tactics.
The Omaha World-Herald reported that additional immigration actions occurred at other meatpacking sites in the region, including facilities operated by Tyson Foods and JBS USA. Both companies told Reuters their plants were not involved in Tuesday’s raids.
As Glenn Valley Foods struggles to restore operations, the episode underscores the growing collision between immigration enforcement and the U.S. food supply, with industry leaders warning that continued raids could severely strain an already fragile system.
