What’s New
A Midwest entrepreneur’s viral posts about the value of immigrant workers sparked angry responses last week, but he told Newsweek that he is standing by his views — as well as his American and migrant employees.
Chad Carleton, who runs a shipping company based out of St. Louis, Missouri, posted the thread on X, formerly Twitter, that included the line: “The average migrant worker is running circles around the average spoiled white kid”.
The posts came in reaction to heated discussions on mass deportation at the Senate Judiciary Committee on December 10, between one of his senators and a witness.
Why It Matters
As the country looks toward President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration next month, and the promised day-one implementation of stricter immigration policies, more details on how the incoming administration plans to carry out mass deportations are coming to light.
The Senate committee hearing discussed the surge in migrant arrivals in recent years and their impact on American citizens. Missouri Senator Josh Hawley argued that illegal migrants were potentially taking jobs from American citizens and driving down wages.
Newsweek reached out to Senator Hawley’s office for comment via voicemail Monday morning.
AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel
What to Know
Carleton wrote in a thread on X that his shipping operation employs 200 people, of which many were first- or second-generation migrants. Many of those employees had a better work ethic than American workers, he said, calling them reliable, good-hearted people who were “hungry for opportunity”.
I have 200 employees, now 60%+ migrants, 1st or 2nd generation.
I’m in Missouri (Hawley country).
Let me tell you about the migrant workforce. https://t.co/FkzPZJzgpg
— Chad Carleton (@ChadCarleton) December 11, 2024
“I feel strongly that it’s our responsibility as humans to advocate for the vulnerable,” Carleton told Newsweek in an interview after his thread went viral. “Seeing a group of very deserving people, immigrants, be singled out and ridiculed lights a fire inside me that I can’t explain. I think those people deserve a voice of support from someone who has been incredibly fortunate.”
Carleton said that by doing just that, he, his family and his employees had been threatened, while his business has been trashed online.
Some on the social media platform echoed Senator Hawley’s words: that there is preferential treatment toward migrants, which drives down wages, and that if more migrants were deported then American-born workers would be better off.
Carleton pushed back on that, telling Newsweek that he and other local businesses were hiring dozens of people a month, with most being citizens or permanent residents, and that his company was paying above-average wages.
“I think this is mostly speculation and conjecture that Americans are somehow victimized,” he said. “We pay at the very top of market to all employees. In fact, there’s nothing more rewarding than giving people far in excess of the prevailing wage as recognition for the hard work and value they create.”
What People Are Saying
X user SoBeCharly, who posts about immigration and the southwest border: “Excellent thread. In a nutshell immigrant workforce is set on to get their American dream asap. Whereas local American born kids somehow feel entitled to the dream without the hard work ethic that comes with it.”
David Zsutty, director of anti-globalization organization The Homeland Institute: “We should deport you too. If you like migrants so much you should go live in migrantistan with them.”
Toby Teeter, director of University of Arkansas’ education, research, and entrepreneurial center: “If you want to improve the average work ethic of American workforce, simply make these migrant workers Americans.”
Senator Josh Hawley, speaking at the hearing on December 10: “We’ve had an open border for the last four years. We have had de facto amnesty… for the last fifteen plus years. It has been a disaster, people have died because of it, wages are lower because of it, our streets are in chaos because of it, and now you and the Democrat party say ‘more of the same, more of the same, let’s double down.’ I think that is insanity, it is total insanity and the American people do too.”
What Happens Next?
Immigrant advocacy groups and business leaders are waiting to see what will come of Trump’s promise of mass deportations.
Carleton said he will continue to stand up for legal migrant workers, which he said does not have to come at the expense of better border security.
“The root of the issues we’re fighting about appear to be both in the security of the border and the sanctions we place on employers who exploit migrant workers, not in the character or merit of the people who come to America in pursuit of the same dream we feel makes this country great,” he said.