Jay Reeves of AP helps chicken processors with their illegal labor needs (Alabama, twister, immigration)

If Jay Reeves of the Associated Press isn't getting paid off by chicken processors like Tyson Foods and Pilgrims Pride, he should be.

Reeves offers "Twister Heals Ala. Town Fractured Over Immigration" [1]. The article seems to have two purposes:

1. Help crooked businesses in Alabama maintain a cheap (to them) workforce that includes large numbers of illegal aliens.

2. Attempt to downplay the many negative impacts of mass immigration of low-skilled workers from Mexico and Latin America.

Reeves writes regarding the town of Kilpatrick, Alabama:

For years before a tornado hit, few besides the immigrants who work at nearby poultry plants ventured down the pothole-rutted dirt roads of "Little Mexico."

The community, whose official name is Kilpatrick, comprises a large population of Latin American residents who previously mingled very little with the white, English-speaking natives.

Oddly enough, it was the twister, with its 125 mph destructive winds and home-wrecking fury, that began bringing the two groups together, even as it tore much of what they owned apart.

People began working together clearing away debris and wreckage after the storm without regard to language or culture, and folks suddenly were getting along better. Jacky Clayton, assistant police chief in Crossville, which includes part of Kilpatrick, doesn't know exactly what happened, but he said things seem less tense now.

"Maybe it's just a little more understanding of brotherly love," Clayton said.

[...much deleted...]

... But few deny that important progress toward tolerance and unity has been made since the day the twisters landed.

"A great bridging has taken place," said Zach Richards, pastor at the local Union Grove Baptist Church. "It's beautiful to see."

So, it works, right? We can let millions of low-skilled people come here illegally, and then all we need is a tornado to solve all the problems.

Well, not so fast. There are minor issues such as the fact that if those chicken processors weren't assisted in hiring illegal aliens by those like Jay Reeves they'd be forced to hire Americans at better wages and under better conditions. Many of those workers would be black; oddly enough, Jay Reeves only mentions the white residents of the surrounding area but doesn't look into whether any blacks have been driven out of work by an influx of illegal aliens.

Alabama's unemployment rate was 6.9% in April [2]. That's better than other states, but it's twice as bad as their historic low of 3.2% in April 2007 [2]. Decreasing that number isn't of concern to those like Jay Reeves: they just want to try to prove that mass immigration works even though it doesn't and they just want to help crooked businesses maintain a largely illegal workforce.

See crooked town story for similar tales from other reporters.

Want to do something about this? Write @Jay_Reeves with your thoughts. More importantly, search for who he talks to and who talks to him, and write them with your thoughts about his supposed reporting.

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[1] peekURL.com/zQKK4P2

[2] bls.gov/web/laus/lauhsthl.htm