Siler City, North Carolina |
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According to the 2000 Census, North Carolina led the population growth of Hispanics in all of the United States with a 394% increase from the 1990 Census.1 In Siler City, NC, Hispanics now compose 39% of the population as opposed to only 4% in 1990.2 The cause of this increase has been attributed mainly to increased employment of immigrant workers (both legal and illegal) by many of the city's major industries, including chicken processing plants and textile mills.3 Illegal immigrants are of growing concern in the Siler City community, and many outspoken people, including David Duke, have made their protests known against companies that hire such individuals. Tyson Foods Inc. is one of the companies at the center of this controversy. After a two-and-a-half year investigation, the Department of Justice began a case against Tyson Foods, Inc. in December 2001 for smuggling illegal aliens into the United States to work in its factories.4 In March 2003, a jury acquitted Tyson Foods of all charges.5 For more information on Siler City, please go to the essay by Angel David Nieves, PhD, University of Maryland at College Park on this website.
1 http://www.census.gov
2 Genaro C. Armas, "Many Hispanics entering small towns," AP, April 2, 2001. Richard T. Cooper, "Racial, Ethnic Diversity Puts New Face On Middle America," Los Angeles Times, March 31, 2001 as quoted in Rural Migration News, vol. 7: no. 2, April 2001.
http://migration.ucdavis.edu/rmn/archive_rmn/apr_2001-01rmn.html
3 Ibid.
Health Services Library at University of North Carolina website,
http://www.hsl.unc.edu/phpapers/silercity00/SCcommprofile.htm
4 US Department of Justice, "INS Investigation of Tyson Foods, Inc. Leads to 36 Count Indictment for Conspiracy to Smuggle Illegal Aliens for Corporate Profit,"
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2001/December/01_crm_654.html
5 Tyson Foods Inc., Tyson News Releases,
http://www.tysonfoodsinc.com/corporate/news/viewNews.asp?article=1187
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