Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen backs ICE crackdown while his family pork business uses undocumented workers

Republican Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen, a staunch supporter of President Trump’s extreme immigration crackdown, relied on undocumented Hispanic labor to build his multimillion dollar pig-farming business, according to The New York Times. As governor, Pillen has made Nebraska law enforcement collaborate with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, turned a former prison into an immigration center called the “Cornhusker Clink,” and referred to undocumented immigrants as “criminal illegal aliens” who are “the worst of the worst.” But he apparently doesn’t mind them when they’re making him rich. According to the Times report, the Pillen Family Farms company’s use of undocumented labor has been an “open secret,” with at least 20 of the farms hiring undocumented immigrants. David Armendariz, a former employee from Mexico without legal status, told the Times that Pillen Family Farms accepted his fake ID. “Everyone knows that it’s not your name,” he said, “but they don’t ask you what your name is.” Armendariz said as he worked there, he saw more and more Hispanic workers, many of them undocumented.Pillen Family Farms has not been audited or inspected by ICE in the last 15 years. The company apparently started tightening their requirements when Pillen started running for governor in 2022—and began hiring Mexican immigrants on special visas. Pillen himself has denied any knowledge of the undocumented workers on his farms. “Jim Pillen never knowingly hired an illegal immigrant and went above and beyond the legal requirements to verify the immigration status of his employees,” a spokesperson stated. “[Governor Pillen] has the strongest immigration record in Nebraska history. Under the governor’s leadership, Nebraska has assisted the federal government in the deportation of nearly 1,000 illegal immigrants through its variety of partnerships with federal entities.”“Four years of Jim Pillen has taught us one thing: what he says and what he does are two different things. His farm and personal business are just the latest proof,” Nebraska gubernatorial nominee Lynne Walz wrote on Wednesday. “He’s made a career holding other people to standards he won’t keep himself. The people paying the price are always the same – workers, families, the folks who can’t write a campaign check. Nebraska deserves better.”The contradictions Walz points to also highlight how extremely intertwined immigration and labor are. Pillen Family Farms is not unique—many businesses and corporations knowingly hire undocumented immigrants from Mexico, Central, and South America because they know they’ll provide cheap labor with little oversight, which ultimately aids their bottom line. And that’s what seems to matter most to people like Pillen.

Gov. Jim Pillen’s family business is one of the nation’s largest pork producers. As he seeks re-election, he has aligned himself with President Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda even though his farms have taken on undocumented laborers.