KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Justice Department has filed a complaint against Farmland Foods Inc., accusing the food producer of asking for unnecessary documents when considering non-U.S. citizens for employment.
The complaint accuses Farmland Foods, a subsidiary of Smithfield Foods Inc., of requiring non-U.S. citizens and some foreign-born U.S. citizens at its Monmouth. Ill., plant to present work authorization documents beyond those required by federal law. The department said the Immigration and Nationality Act requires employers to treat all authorized workers the same during the hiring process, regardless of their citizenship status.
Smithfield Foods said in an e-mailed statement Tuesday that it hadn't seen the complaint, which was filed Monday. Smithfield spokeswoman Keira Lombardo said Farmland Foods "makes every effort to eliminate barriers to employment for foreign-born workers," while also respecting U.S. immigration law.
