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Abstract
Immigrant labor constitutes a substantial portion of the US meat and poultry processing workforce. However, the downstream effects of deportations targeting these immigrants on their food safety practices remain largely unexamined. We provide novel empirical evidence that increased deportations of undocumented immigrants are associated with a rise in food safety inspection violations, suggestive of reduced food safety quality at these establishments. We also find evidence that wages and labor market dynamics adjust in ways consistent with labor shortages following deportations, marked by increases in wages, hires, separations, and employment, along with a modest reduction in turnover. By examining the potential downstream food safety risks associated with deportations, this research contributes to the broader policy discussion about the spillover effects of immigration enforcement on food safety and consumer welfare.