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CNN Live Event/Special
Immigrants, the Backbone of U.S. Agriculture Industry; Unwanted People Yet Serves the Best; The Hidden Workforce: Undocumented in America. Aired 11p-12a ET
Aired July 26, 2019 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[23:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The following is a CNN special report.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: White people just won't do the job anymore.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN HOST: They are needed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't have the work groups to produce the food here.
LAVANDERA: In the places.
This is home to Congressman Steve King.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This town would die.
LAVANDERA: And by the people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm really scared because I know him.
LAVANDERA: Who fear them the most.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (on-screen translation): We're not what he says we are.
LAVANDERA: Tonight, exploring the undocumented lives in the shadows of America.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On Mother's Day, she wasn't there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (on-screen translation): I want to tell them to have mercy on us.
LAVANDERA: We ask tough questions.
If a couple migrant workers go in there to have a beer, what would happen?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not good.
LAVANDERA: And speak with those risking it all to fight.
(BEGIN VOICE CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: They're
bringing drugs, they're bringing crime.
REP. STEVE KING (R-IA): For everyone who's a valedictorian there's another hundred out there, that they weigh 130 pounds and they've got calves the size of cantaloupes because they're hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert.
This argument that diversity is our strength, I just wonder if anybody ever questions that.
(END VOICE CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (on-screen translation): Here are my checks. The taxes that they take out. Here it says call of the information.
LAVANDERA: Are there many Americans do the work you're doing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (on-screen translation): No. Only us. Only us.
LAVANDERA (on-screen translation): Only you. Undocumented?
LAVANDERA: Undocumented immigrants who are doing the work you're doing. Do your bosses know that you're undocumented?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (on-screen translation): Yes. Yes, they know.
LAVANDERA: They don't care?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (on-screen translation): They don't care about that.
LAVANDERA: Not important.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (on-screen translation): They know that they need you.
MARY IVERSON, PASTOR, GOOD SHEPHERD LUTHERAN CHURCH, ELCA: She told stories about what it was like early in their marriage and how they had this goal of raising this farm and these crops and producing beef cattle and raising their family there, reminding me, she said, that this is not an occupation, this is a lifestyle when you farm.
She said that goal has changed so much now just in these past years. She said, our hope, my hope right now, our hope right now is to break even.
Finally, she ended by shrugging her shoulders and saying, well, no one ever said this was going to be easy.
LAVANDERA: What is this area like?
IVERSON: It's a small town that cares about each other, the community, the greater area.
LAVANDERA: What's it like to be a farmer these days? IVERSON: I'm seeing people struggling, but it's not like they can
just go out and get another job. This is their lifestyle. I think some people are not quite aware of how bad it is right now.
So, today, Ted is coming. He is the only one in the United States that is a mental health worker for the E.G. industry.
TED MATTHEWS, DIRECTOR, MINNESOTA RURAL MENTAL HEALTH: Farming is an incredibly stressful occupation. Why do people farm? Is it just because they're crazy or are there other reasons?
LAVANDERA: How worried are you about farmers this particular year?
MATTHEWS: Very, very worried. Dairy in particular is really bad. Where we lost 10 percent of all dairies in Minnesota last year. It's predicted that they're going to lose another 10 percent this year.
LAVANDERA: Do you ever deal with undocumented workers?
MATTHEWS: I have --
(CROSSTALK)
LAVANDERA: Do people like that come to work?
MATTHEWS: Yes, I have. When I talk to farmers that hire them, they honestly believe that they couldn't farm without them, that they would lose their farm without them.
[23:05:00] LAVANDERA: So, we're in a town called Worthington, Minnesota. It's a small town in the southwest corner of the state. And we're on our way to St. Mary's Catholic Church, which is essentially kind of a sanctuary church for many Latino immigrants here in this community. There's the church right over here.
JIM CALLAHAN, PRIEST, ST. MARY'S CATHOLIC CHURCH: Worthington is a community of about 13,000 people.
Within the community of 13,000 people, the largest community would be the Latino community. One of the things I think it's important to remember too that the majority of our people living here within the community are undocumented.
LAVANDERA: You've made St. Mary's a sanctuary church.
CALLAHAN: It was a week after the election of President Trump. You could feel the fear within the community.
LAVANDERA: And that hasn't changed?
CALLAHAN: No. We have mental health issues. People are suffering from depression. We have a rise in alcoholism, drug addiction, abuse and domestic violence. And it's all a result of what's taking place within our country.
LAVANDERA: There are some people out there who probably think that a lot of these undocumented migrants are getting a free ride here.
CALLAHAN: They're not getting a free ride. I talked with one farmer who told me he'd rather have a group of immigrants, because you know that when you are going to hire them, they're going to do their job.
LAVANDERA: So, this is Worthington, downtown Worthington here.
This is one of those Latin grocery stores right here next to this Mexican restaurant. I spoke to the owner of that one yesterday. They told me that they got here almost 30 years ago.
So, all these signs are pretty fascinating. These are postings for ranches and farms in the area looking for workers. It's all in Spanish. This sign says that they need people to work with chickens.
What do you say to those people who say, you know what, all these undocumented immigrants in places like Worthington, they need to round them up, get them out of here? What would that do to a place like Worthington?
CALLAHAN: If all the immigrants were to leave tomorrow, this town would die.
LAVANDERA: What percentage of this farm and these agricultural businesses around here, what percentage of undocumented workforce do they depend on?
CALLAHAN: I would say probably 90 percent.
LAVANDERA: That's an astounding number.
CALLAHAN: It is.
LAVANDERA: We're on our way to meet with a dairy farmer here in the State of Minnesota. And it's interesting we're not really sure what it is we're going to get, but he's agreed to meet with us and he's grappling with just how much he wants to share about the realities in how the farming and ranching industry really works.
We're here. Let's see what happens. Morning, Pat.
PAT LUNEMANN, DAIRY FARM OWNER: Hi there.
LAVANDERA: How are you?
LUNEMANN: I'm good.
We have a dairy farm here with 800 cows, about 15 employees. And I've been in the business for 40 years. If you had asked me when I first started farming that this is where I would be, I would have said you were crazy.
LAVANDERA: The topic is hard to talk about, right?
LUNEMANN: Yes, it is. It's hard for any dairy farmer or farmer in general to talk about it in the United States. Because when we say that we're in dire need of more people to help us do the work and we talk about them being immigrants, not a lot of people want to hear that.
If we don't have the workers to produce the food here in the United States, the food is going to be produced somewhere else.
LAVANDERA: The reality is much of this workforce on these farms is made up of undocumented immigrants.
LUNEMANN: You can go and Google this. It's not a secret that 50 to 70 percent of farmers in the United States are undocumented. There just aren't the people out there that are willing to come and do the farm work.
LAVANDERA: I know this is a delicate question and it puts you in a tough spot. Do you know how many undocumented immigrants you have working for you right now?
LUNEMANN: So, here's what I'll say. We do the best that we can here on our dairy to make sure that we are legal and in compliance.
[23:10:01] In general, the visa system doesn't work. We have what's called an H-2A visa which is a visa for temporary farm work. So, it works for the fruit and vegetable sector of agriculture, but it doesn't work for the year-round part of agriculture.
So, for dairy, which is a seven-day a week, 365-day-a-year job to bring a person in on an H-2A visa, it doesn't work.
LAVANDERA: Coming up, signs of hostility in rural Minnesota.
So, if a couple migrant workers go in there to have a beer, what would happen?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not good.
LAVANDERA: How they live in north central and western Iowa.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (on-screen translation): We have nothing to hide, because we have done nothing wrong.
LAVANDERA: And who they work for in New Jersey and New York.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm really, really scared when he run for president, because I know him.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm from a small tribe that's called the Anuak. And so, the Anuak are in both Ethiopia and South Sudan.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know a lot about my mom's mom because she talks about it and does a lot of research. She's very Norwegian.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My name is (Inaudible). And my ancestors come from Germany, the Netherlands, and Denmark. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm Nancy. My grandparents came from Sweden and
Norway.
LAVANDERA: If you want to get to know your neighbors, you have to invite them into your house.
CALLAHAN: We have a group that we started called faces of Worthington.
LAVANDERA: Father Jim Callahan says most of Worthington, Minnesota's farm workers are undocumented.
CALLAHAN: We bring people from the community and an immigrant together and they share their story.
[23:15:03] UNIDENTIFIED MALE (on-screen translation): I am from Guatemala.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am from Guatemala.
LAVANDERA: These are undocumented immigrants?
CALLAHAN: Yes, undocumented immigrants.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (on-screen translation): I asked him, is that a job for me? I want to work. And then after every week, he told us that the company owners didn't deposit the money. I asked the person, you need to pay us. And he told us, "I know you are illegal." If you do something you will be deported. I'm going to call immigration.
So, think about it. Who is the one doing the bd here? The immigrant or the citizen?
LAVANDERA: The milk you produce here, where does it end up?
LUNEMANN: In a cheese plant. And a lot of it's made into parmesan cheese and some of the whey protein concentrates that people eat and drink in their shakes, your high protein shakes that you have.
LAVANDERA: Finding workers who don't quit after one day of grueling work is the hardest part of life on the farm these days.
How do you find people to come work for you?
LUNEMANN: Recently, I needed to replace a worker and I went on indeed in the Craigslist and Facebook and I had about 20 to 25 people apply.
I started to interview and the first one I interviewed I hired her. She was a no-show. Then I tried another person, and same problem. Then I hired another person, worked for four hours and said, this is not what I want to do. And then I hired another person, an able bodied, locally born and bred young man.
LAVANDERA: And you're being nice when you say locally bred, native born, you're talking about white workers here. LUNEMANN: I am. You said that. A nice young man, but worked eight
hours and said, this work is too hard for me. I know, I just can't do this.
And then I hired another person who actually had a farm background but just couldn't get the job done. And there I was, five individuals and I just didn't have a spot filled.
LAVANDERA: So, when people hear that phrase that immigrants are doing the work that native born people don't want to do, you've seen it and experienced it firsthand?
LUNEMANN: This wasn't the first time that I've gone through this scenario.
LAVANDERA: He works 120 hours every two weeks, and he pays about $300 in taxes are pulled out of every paycheck.
LAVANDERA (on-screen translation): How many cows are there where you work?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (on-screen translation): One thousand six hundred now.
LAVANDERA (on-screen translation): It's dirty? It's difficult, the job?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (on-screen translation): Yes, it's tough. It's tough.
LAVANDERA (on-screen translation): But the farms, I think, couldn't work without you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (on-screen translation): Yes, that's right.
LAVANDERA (on-screen translation): Do you get paid overtime?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (on-screen translation): Overtime? No.
LAVANDERA (on-screen translation): How much do you get paid an hour?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (on-screen translation): Twelve dollars an hour.
LAVANDERA: You're not shocked when you hear stories of people who aren't paid overtime, people who work 140 hours for a straight salary, you know, job? I would imagine that troubles you.
LUNEMANN: It does trouble me. And it's not something that should be done. Part of it is because we don't have enough people here to do the work. And so, too much is expected of, you know, certain individuals. I would hope that we can fix that, you know, by having an adequate workforce and, you know, to enforce the rules that we have.
LAVANDERA: He says without the undocumented migrants working at the ranch where he works, that the farm would stop working. They would have to stop raising pigs. They get covered in urine and pig waste and it smells rather awful in the areas where he works.
LAVANDERA (on-screen translation): How long do Americans last?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (on-screen translation): Sometimes only half a day.
LAVANDERA (on-screen translation): Half a day?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (on-screen translation): Half a day, or they get there and the next day they don't show up.
LAVANDERA: There are a lot of Americans who don't want to see undocumented immigrants like yourself in the United States. What do you say to them?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (on-screen translation): I want to tell them to have mercy on us.
LAVANDERA: Do you feel like a lot of those immigrants are kind of forced to live into the shadows?
LUNEMANN: Yes, yes. And you know, there's racial profiling no matter where you're at. Especially in rural communities that aren't used to people of a different color moving to town. Where I live was pretty white.
[23:20:06] LAVANDERA: He says where he used to live, he had a neighbor who would yell and scream at them and try to get them to move away from the neighborhood that they lived in. What did they yell at you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (on-screen translation): That we weren't welcome, and that we needed to leave.
IVERSON: Around here I see a lot of name calling, I see a lot of racism.
LAVANDERA: That has changed so much in these communities here in Minnesota where you see, you know, places that were mostly all white. And now many of these small communities are diverse.
MATTHEWS: Well, it's confusing to a lot of people, especially more so than non-farm people it's confusing. You know, what are they all doing here, you know? And they don't know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's time for your GSED (ph) on the go weather. Here is your work for three people tasks.
LAVANDERA: What kind of town are we in?
MAYOR JODI DIXON, LONG PRAIRIE, MINNESOTA: A small farming community, population about 3,600 give or take a few.
KEVIN LANGER, POLICE CHIEF, LONG PRAIRIE POLICE DEPARTMENT: I'm the police chief here, I started here in July of 1989.
LAVANDERA: You have seen the evolution of this town. LANGER: Seen the changes, yes.
LAVANDERA: A few decades ago, undocumented immigrants started hearing there was work to be had in a little place called Long Prairie, Minnesota.
LANGER: We are going to be coming around --
(CROSSTALK)
LAVANDERA: This is one of the biggest employers in town?
LANGER: Yes, yes. So, this is a part of Long Prairie packing here. They just build this new here. When I first started here, everybody who was employed there was white. Now it's not -- that's not the case anymore.
DIXON: People don't like change, but change is going to happen.
LAVANDERA: But not everyone is rolling out the welcome mat. We noticed there was a bar downtown. The guy had a big old sign in there that said stop the invasion. What do you make of that guy?
LANGER: I don't know. No comment. He doesn't like me either, so.
LAVANDERA: Do you worry about what that says about the city?
LANGER: You know what? That sign's been up there for I don't know how long. I don't think nobody even looks at it and pays attention to it anymore.
LAVANDERA: The mayor didn't want to pay attention to it as we walked past the Irish bar.
I guess which is some of what we were talking about, right?
DIXON: Yes, a little bit.
LAVANDERA: You didn't want to spend too much time there?
And she warned us about it. So, if a couple migrant workers go in there to have a beer, what would happen?
DIXON: It's not good.
LAVANDERA: Really?
DIXON: Yes.
LAVANDERA: There's a bar in a town not too far from here that has a sign in there that says 'stop the invasion.' How do you react to that?
LUNEMANN: I'm appalled.
LAVANDERA: Do you see a connection between that sign in the window and the reason why maybe nothing has changed when it comes to immigration laws.
LUNEMANN: I do. It's the vocal minority.
LAVANDERA: Coming up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Iowa Republican Congressman Steve King is under fire.
LAVANDERA: We head to Northwestern Iowa.
(BEGIN VOICE CLIP)
KING: For everyone who's a valedictorian, there's another 100 out there, that they weigh 130 pounds and they've got calves the size of cantaloupes because they're hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert.
(END VOICE CLIP)
LAVANDERA: To see who keeps Congressman Steve King's district alive.
(BEGIN VOICE CLIP)
KING: This argument that diversity is our strength, I just wonder if anybody ever questions that.
(END VOICE CLIP)
[23:25:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LAVANDERA: We're driving through the Fourth Congressional District of Iowa. This is home to Steve King, the congressman who has made headlines for years about his anti-immigrant views.
(BEGIN VOICE CLIP)
KING: For everyone who's a valedictorian, there's another 100 out there, that they weigh 130 pounds and they've got calves the size of cantaloupes because they're hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert.
This argument that diversity is our strength, I just wonder if anybody ever questions that.
(END VOICE CLIP)
LAVANDERA: Steve King's district here in Iowa has 39 counties. In 31 of those counties, the population has actually decreased. In fact, two counties with the highest percentage of Latino population are in Steve King's district. The only people really moving into these areas in this part of Iowa are Latino immigrants, either undocumented or documented.
AIMEE HANSON, FESTIVAL COORDINATOR: I am the associate director of La Luz Hispana. We are the hosts of the Grand Festival North Iowa. There are hundreds of people who come to this festival. Some estimates
range even up to a thousand. The majority are from Mexico. We don't know for sure how many people are undocumented, but there's definitely a very big portion of the visitors here today.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My mom, she ends up in this little town Hampton and she saw there was a lot of Latinos, so she decided to open a Mexican store. We all were born in Mexico, in Jalisco.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was born in Tecolotlan, Jalisco, Mexico, and I came to the U.S. when I was 10 years old. The pottery I brought from Puebla and then the dolls I brought from Queretaro.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (on-screen translation): All here are hard-working and very united people. These festivals are beautiful because you see all the families together, and we're all alike.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (on-screen translation): Run, son. Run. Run. Good. Good.
[23:30:04] LAVANDERA: She says Iowa feels like home to her. It's a place that's very secure, very family-oriented. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (on-screen translation): Both teams are from Veracruz.
LAVANDERA: Both of the baseball teams playing are from Veracruz, Mexico. They all kind of know each other and live here in Iowa. This is the second year for this baseball league. Who's playing?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING IN SPANISH).
LAVANDERA: Her husband, her son, nephews.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (on-screen translation): Look at my baby over there.
(LAUGHTER)
LAVANDERA: Her son just got a double off the outfield wall.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah.
LAVANDERA: What kind of work do you guys do?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (on-screen translation): My husband works in construction.
LAVANDERA: My husband works in construction.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (on-screen translation): All day long at work. I take care of the house and my children. I have three kids.
LAVANDERA: You're here undocumented. How do you feel? Are you comfortable talking about that with us?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (on-screen translation): We have nothing to hide, because we've done nothing wrong.
LAVANDERA: She says speaking publicly and showing her face isn't anything that she's afraid of.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (on-screen translation): The undocumented people here in the state of Iowa are doing a lot for this state. There is too much work here in the state of Iowa. Many pig farms have opened. You could say they need a lot of workers. And Americans are rarely willing to do it.
LAVANDERA: "Field of Dreams." Do you know the movie "Field of Dreams?"
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (on-screen translation): Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
LAVANDERA: "Field of Dreams?"
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (on-screen translation): Exactly. Yes, it is a nice time with your family here.
LAVANDERA: You dreamed as a child of living in Iowa?
LILIANA VELASCO, DAUGHTER OF UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANT (ph): I wanted those clean streets, friendly people, green grass everywhere. When I came here, I said this is where I'm staying. This is what I've always wanted.
LAVANDERA: As being the only citizen in your family, you've seen your family basically slowly disappear from Iowa.
VELASCO: Yeah.
LAVANDERA: What's that been like?
VELASCO: Sad. My step dad and my younger brother, they both got deported. The hardest one, I think, was when my mom got detained. And then on my birthday, she sent me a birthday card. And, yeah, I guess I never talked about that.
LAVANDERA: Hard to talk about? Why is that so hard?
VELASCO: Your parents aren't around. Her and my step dad were detained. And like on mother's day, she wasn't there.
LAVANDERA: Three uncles, an aunt, stepfather --
VELASCO: Brother.
LAVANDERA: -- a brother, and a number of friends.
VELASCO: A number of friends, yeah. This is my step dad, Andres. And he lived here also most of his life just like my mom. These are actually some of the drawings that my step dad would send to me when he was detained for the immigration. This is my brother. He is the youngest, so he is going to be 25. He came to the U.S. when he was five, and he got deported about a year ago. He barely knows how to speak Spanish, because I guess growing up, since I knew how to speak English, he didn't think he needed to learn Spanish.
LAVANDERA: You have had so many family members who have been deported. What does that mean that this area has missed out on?
VELASCO: They worked in the egg packaging plant for many, many years. My mom's restaurant had to close because there was no one that would cook. She would post, like, hiring and nobody would apply.
LAVANDERA: Given everything that Steve King has said about immigrants, he was actually born here in this town, Storm Lake. When we return --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I asked him to come, show him around.
STACEY COLE, SUPERINTENDENT, STORM LAKE COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT: The challenge for us is outside entities. So communities around us who don't understand the value of diversity --
LAVANDERA: Like your congressman?
We take an in-depth look at the most diverse city in Congressman Steve King's district.
ART CULLEN, REPORTER AND AUTHOR: There is a job that Tyson called the bung cutter.
LAVANDERA: The bung cutter.
CULLEN: Yeah. And you want your kid to be bung cutter?
(LAUGHTER)
CULLEN: No!
LAVANDERA: You can smell it, too.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know what? I just say you're smelling money.
LAVANDERA: That's because of immigrants?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Solely because of immigrants.
[23:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LAVANDERA: Given everything that Steve King has said about immigrants, he was actually born here in this town, Storm Lake. And since he was born and left, this city has actually become one of the most diverse places in the entire state of Iowa. Storm Lake is actually home to a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter. He has been reporting for the Storm Lake Times with his family since 1990.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's already on the Des Moines register.
LAVANDERA: And he has written a book about the demographic changes.
CULLEN: It's Shangri La, baby!
(LAUGHTER)
LAVANDERA: His name is Art Cullen, and he is quite the character.
CULLEN: Our Anglo readers are dying steadily. Our new readers are all named Jaime and Jorge. They are not named John and Mary.
LAVANDERA: So Storm Lake is home to nearly 15,000 people. Just drive down the main street and get a sense of how things have changed. There is a Mexican store there and a Mexican bakery. This is a place called Delicias Bakery, with all of the different flavors and creations that many of these immigrants who have moved here to Iowa used to have back home in Mexico or Central America.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN SPANISH).
LAVANDERA: He said anywhere between 500 and 800 times a week, someone walks into the store, they pick up this phone, and it's essentially a money transfer to relatives in Mexico or Central America.
[23:40:00] Over the course of a few days, nearly $15,000 was transferred using these phones in this bakery.
You said in your book that while much of rural Iowa is emptying out of people and aspirations, our little town is revitalized by immigrants.
CULLEN: Solely because of immigrants. Most little school districts are in danger of closing. Storm Lake is trying to figure out where to put all these kids. Stacey Cole is very active. She just took over as superintendent about a year ago.
COLE: We are about 84 percent students of color.
LAVANDERA: Eighty-four percent.
COLE: Eighty-four percent, yes.
LAVANDERA: I'm sure most people think is lily white Iowa.
COLE: Correct, yes. In fact, I was just visiting with someone today that said, "Really? In Storm Lake, Iowa?" Many are migrant students, many are refugees.
LAVANDERA: The undocumented immigrants that live in this community now, are they living in the shadows here?
CULLEN: Yes. The police chief tells me about it. This is called Vista States. It's a mobile home park.
LAVANDERA: Is this an area where freshly arrived immigrants --
CULLEN: Yes. His name is Mark Procer (ph), and he came here from East St. Louis.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can view a variety of national studies, nonpartisan, bipartisan studies that repeatedly put out data that say immigrants commit crime at a lower rate than native born Americans and that undocumented immigrants commit crimes at a lower rate than that.
LAVANDERA: Have you seen that play out here in Storm Lake?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have seen that played out. Last year in 2018, our annual report, we were more diverse now than we've been in the history of this city. We experienced a 27-year low in serious crime. If you have folks that are living in the shadows, and we certainly do, that are afraid to come forward when they're victimized, that are afraid to be active in their community, it lends to a less safe community.
LAVANDERA: Does that mean creating an atmosphere where undocumented immigrants feel comfortable calling you up?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely. This is the large Tyson Turkey Plant and then the pork plant is across the highway.
LAVANDERA: So, there are two major plants.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two major plants.
LAVANDERA: These are two of the major employers in this city?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, 3,000 plus jobs.
LAVANDERA: You talk about Storm Lake as being an "industrial protein center." What do you mean by that?
CULLEN: Fifteen thousand hogs a day are killed in Storm Lake and twice as many turkeys. This is Tyson's busiest and most profitable pork plant right here in Storm Lake.
LAVANDERA: So what happens here in Storm Lake?
CULLEN: Is feeding the rest of the nation.
LAVANDERA: Art Cullen said, "We kill 15,000 pigs a day here."
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To be honest with you, I think he is a little low.
LAVANDERA: A little low.
(LAUGHTER)
LAVANDERA: Boy, you can smell it, too.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know what? I just say you're smelling money.
LAVANDERA: These people need workers. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They have competitive pork plants going up about 50 miles east and 50 miles west, all of which are scrambling to get up and open or to add second shifts.
LAVANDERA: You asked the question about how can rural Iowa meet its potential and make itself whole. Have you found an answer to that question?
CULLEN: Yes. I think the answer is here. In a community that is figured out, you can find your next schoolteacher and police officer in that little brown kid in the third grade.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's from a local farm.
TOPILTZIN MARTINEZ, BETTER DAY CAFE OWNER: Yes. I opened up a cafe in this building.
LAVANDERA: Got you. Were your parents and uncle undocumented when they came?
MARTINEZ: Yes, yes.
LAVANDERA: So you were the son of undocumented immigrants --
MARTINEZ: I was, yes.
LAVANDERA: -- opening your own business now.
MARTINEZ: Right.
Ice, medium? There you are.
LAVANDERA: You serve on the city council here in Storm Lake. Why did you want to run for city council?
JOSE IBARRA, STORM LAKE CITY COUNCIL MEMBER: There was no Latino in the city council. There was no immigrant whatsoever in the city council.
LAVANDERA: Why don't people like Steve King, the congressman from this district, and people who vote for him, understand what it is you're talking about?
CULLEN: Well, because for Steve King it works. Fear works. They've created this culture fear to win political elections. They hear their own president saying that they are all a bunch of drug runners and thieves. Who are they going to believe?
COLE: The challenge for us is outside entities. So communities around us who don't understand the value of diversity --
LAVANDERA: Like your congressman?
(LAUGHTER)
COLE: No comment.
CULLEN: When you talk to people on a rational level, they say, yeah, we do need those people working, slaughtering hogs in Storm Lake. We got to get our pork chops somewhere, and the white people just won't do the job anymore.
[23:45:00] LAVANDERA: I mean, that is not even debatable at this point, right?
CULLEN: No, it's not really debatable, not with an engineering degree from Iowa State University. You're not going to go drive a forklift or cut the bung hole out of a hog. And there is a job that Tyson called the bung cutter.
LAVANDERA: The bung cutter.
CULLEN: Yeah. And you want your kid to be bung cutter?
(LAUGHTER)
CULLEN: No!
LAVANDERA: Up next. Do you worry that by speaking out publicly, it will get you in more trouble?
The undocumented workers revealing their identity.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (on-screen translation): I am not telling a lie.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (on-screen translation): No. I am not scared.
LAVANDERA: And fighting back against the president of the United States.
GILBERTA DOMINGUEZ CRUZ, UNDOCUMENTED WORKER (on-screen translation): We're not what he says we are.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (voice-over): They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.
Remember I made that speech and I was badly criticized? Oh, so terrible, what he said. Turned out I was 100 percent right. That is why I got elected.
LAVANDERA: Members only. Trump National Golf Club. Have you ever been in there?
ANIBAL ROMERO, IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY: No, I haven't.
LAVANDERA: You've gotten really involved in this whole Trump and undocumented worker. How did that happen?
ROMERO: Back in August, I had a woman come in to my office --
(on-screen translation): Tell me your name and where you're from.
SANDRA DIAZ, UNDOCUMENTED WORKER (on-screen translation): Sandra Diaz from Costa Rica.
ROMERO: -- and tell me that she had an immigration issue.
LAVANDERA: What did you do at Trump's club?
DIAZ: I am housekeeping.
[23:50:00] ROMERO: She mentioned that she was undocumented at the time and she had worked for the Trump Organization, specifically for Donald Trump at his golf club in Bedminster.
LAVANDERA: She started working for Trump in March of 2010.
When you hear President Trump talk about undocumented immigrants, how does it make you feel?
DIAZ: I am really, really scared when he ran for president. I am really scared because I know him.
LAVANDERA: Why were you scared?
DIAZ: Because whatever he wants or what he thinks, whatever he wants, he'll do it.
(On-screen translation): I had direct contact with him always. I was responsible for his house. I washed for him. I ironed for him. I sewed his socks.
LAVANDERA: Do you worry that by speaking out publicly that it will get you in more trouble?
DIAZ: I just speak the true.
TRUMP: It's a special property --
DIAZ (on-screen translation): I am not telling a lie. The businesses, the meetings, everything was always clean and orderly. And everything was pretty because he always had a Hispanic workforce that lead him to where he is now.
ROMERO: She mentioned her friend, Victorina Morales --
LAVANDERA: This is part of her uniform as well. Trump's national Bedminster.
ROMERO: -- who was currently at the time working for the Trump Organization.
VICTORINA MORALES, UNDOCUMENTED WORKER (on-screen translation): I come from Guatemala. I started working there in 2013. I was working for five years. I cleaned his house. I would go in and out. I had the key to the house so that I could come in and clean. I would do the same at Ivanka's house. LAVANDERA: The members of the White House communication wish to express our sincere appreciation for the outstanding manner in which you provided support to the president of the United States in New Jersey.
She says that other undocumented workers who lost their job, because of her and others speaking out, were very angry with her.
MORALES (on-screen translation): They said that on the day they'd find me, they'd cut my tongue out for being a snitch.
LAVANDERA: The Trump family has said that all of these workers have duped them into hiring them. Do you believe that's the case?
ROMERO: I don't believe it. The reason I don't believe it, this is one or two employees, maybe you could say, well, the company is big enough, how would management know? But we are talking about possibly hundreds of people. Hundreds. I represent 38 of them. I've met more.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (on-screen translation): I started working in house maintenance.
LAVANDERA (on-screen translation): What work did you do at the president's club?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN SPANISH).
LAVANDERA: You're a groundskeeper.
LAVANDERA (on-screen translation): What job did you do at the club?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (on-screen translation): Housekeeping. We would take care of the entire clubhouse, the golf shop, the restaurant.
LAVANDERA: How long did you work for President Trump?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Almost 40 years.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (on-screen translation): I started working there when he was running for president.
LAVANDERA: The Trump Organization says it started to use this e- verify system which is, you know, as you know, it says a way of being able to verify whether or not someone is legally able to work in the United States.
This is an autograph picture of Donald Trump that the president gave to Gabriel (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some of my clients have been working for the Trump Organization for over a decade.
LAVANDERA: This is a stack of countless paychecks that Gabriel (ph) earned over his 14 years of working for Donald Trump and they all come from the Trump National Golf Club.
ROMERO: And now, after the story is public, now they have decided to use e-verify.
LAVANDERA: This is your first check from working for Donald Trump. Here is your federal income tax that was taken out, your social security tax that was taken out, Medicare tax.
ROMERO: In some case, management helps them obtain these fraudulent documents that immigrants used to work in the United States.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Are you confident there are no undocumented immigrants working at your Bedminster property or other Trump golf properties?
TRUMP: Well that I don't know because I don't run it. But I would say this. Probably every club in the United States has that.
(Voice-over): Under the senseless rule of the current system, we are not able to give preference to a doctor, a researcher, a student who graduated number one in this class from the finest colleges in the world.
DOMINGUEZ CRUZ (on-screen translation): Immigrants contribute a lot. And we're not what he says we are.
[23:54:59] MARGARITA CRUZ CARREON, UNDOCUMENTED WORKER (on-screen translation): We are not bad people. We only want to work legally in this country because we only want to be a part of it to contribute as much as an American.
DIAZ (on-screen translation): One can say the nice part of all Americans is the heart Americans have. I am very grateful for being able to come here and find work. But that's not the only thing we want. We want to continue working hard. We want a path to be able to do things right.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
