Key facts
- Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen, who advocates for strict immigration enforcement and ICE crackdowns, has seen his family's pork business employ undocumented workers.
- Pillen Family Farms, one of the nation's largest pork producers, has utilized undocumented laborers for over a decade.
- Court records and interviews indicate at least 20 Pillen farms employed undocumented immigrants, with some workers using fake or stolen IDs.
- Governor Pillen has publicly supported President Trump's hard-line immigration policies, including directing state cooperation with ICE.
- The agricultural industry faces labor shortages, with many farms relying on immigrant workers, including those without legal status.
Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen, who has aligned himself with President Trump's hard-line immigration policies and directed state cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), faces scrutiny over his family's business employing undocumented workers. Pillen Family Farms, a major pork producer, has reportedly utilized undocumented laborers for over a decade, with court records and interviews indicating that at least 20 of its farms employed individuals without legal status.
Governor Pillen has publicly echoed Trump's rhetoric on immigration, including referring to immigrants as "criminal illegal aliens" and supporting ICE's mass deportation sweeps. His administration has facilitated ICE operations, including the use of a former state prison to detain hundreds of immigrants. However, investigations by The New York Times and the Flatwater Free Press reveal that Pillen's business has relied on migrant workers, some of whom were undocumented, to address labor shortages.
Interviews with former workers and managers suggest that the use of undocumented labor and documentation fraud, such as using fake or stolen IDs, was common at some Pillen farms. While Pillen's spokeswoman stated he never knowingly hired undocumented immigrants and followed legal verification procedures, court records show at least a dozen workers were charged with using false identification between 2015 and 2024. Some former employees reported that managers were aware of workers using assumed identities.
Meanwhile, President Trump has indicated he is considering policies that would allow the agriculture industry to continue employing immigrants without authorization if farmers take responsibility. Despite this, ICE has been directed to continue worksite raids across the U.S., with a stated goal of making thousands of arrests daily, focusing on individuals with criminal backgrounds. This approach has raised concerns within the agriculture industry about labor shortages, disruptions to the food supply, and increased food prices, as well as fear among immigrant communities.