Immigrants on the Line

They fled Haiti only to endure brutal working conditions at a Colorado plant run by the world's biggest meatpacker. Now they face deportation.

- Ted Genoways

In early December 2023, through a scrim of swirling flurries, Mackenson Remy steered his minivan past an open gate in the security fence surrounding a gray concrete factory along Highway 85, on the northeastern edge of Greeley, Colorado. Remy was still relatively new to the state, and he'd never been to Greeley before. He didn't really know anything about the plant either, only the three letters he'd been told to look for-JBS-and what he'd heard: that they had jobs. Lots of jobs.

Remy is originally from Haiti. He's in his 30s with braided hair and a thin beard. He has a wary way about him but also a restless hustle. About 10 years ago, he moved from Port-au-Prince to Boston, and for a while that was all he knew of the States.

But when his wife, who is in the military, was stationed in Colorado Springs in early 2023, he started working at a Marriott there, driving shuttles of pilots to Denver International Airport. Despite constantly retreading the same ground, the view along the eastern front of the Rocky Mountains, with Pikes Peak soaring in the distance, never failed to impress him.

Remy had a TikTok channel, so he started shooting videos with narration in Haitian Creole and sharing them with his few dozen followers back home and those recently arrived in the United States. As Haiti has unraveled over the last few years, hundreds of thousands of migrants have fled the widespread violence and landed in the US in search of a better life. "I just started to show them how Colorado looks," Remy said later.

"Couple people, they told me, 'You're always talking about Colorado is nice, it's beautiful. How about the jobs over there?"" For those Haitians with temporary visas, having full-time work could help their case to stay.