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The People Who Feed the US

From the Archives: World Press Photo contest 2022

José sits in his room with his sister Sara, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA, on 6 September 2020. Jose worked in a meatpacking plant until contracting COVID-19 in April 2020. He was in the hospital on a ventilator for five months, and still uses an oxygen cylinder. Sara also worked at the factory, but left to become a house cleaner. She took care of her brother during his illness.

The stories of migrants working in the US meatpacking industry shed light on the lives many migrants lead once they reach their destination. Nationally, immigrants make up 37 percent of the meat industry labor force. During the COVID-19 pandemic, meatpacking plants...

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Image and text © World Press Photo, 2022