A conservative-leaning investment fund group has divested itself from Tyson Foods over its practice of hiring asylum-seekers in the United States, cautioning others to avoid investing in the food company as well.
The decision by American Conservative Values ETF stems from a recent report that Tyson partnered with the nonprofit organization Tent Partnership for Refugees in 2022 to create a program to help refugees find employment. Bill Flaig, the CEO and founder of ACVF’s parent company Ridgeline Research LLC, argued that Tyson’s management has “blundered into a political minefield” over this partnership.
“The risk of alienating a significant percentage of their customers outweighs any potential economic benefit,” Flaig told FOX Business. “In a recent Pew Research poll, 80% of U.S. adults say the U.S. government is doing a bad job of handling the migrant influx. We have seen the negative impact of alienating customers recently with Bud Light and Target and by divesting we are protecting our shareholders.”
The report comes as Tyson announced that it would close its plant in Perry, Iowa, this June, impacting 1,276 employees. While company officials have said the closure is unrelated to its hiring practices, Flaig argues that it reinforces “how inadequate that response is to Americans concerned about the open border.”
Tyson denied the accusations in a statement. “In recent days, there has been a lot of misinformation in the media about our company, and we feel compelled to set the record straight. Any insinuation that we would cut American jobs to hire immigrant workers is completely false.”
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“Tyson Foods is strongly opposed to illegal immigration, and we led the way in participating in the two major government programs to help employers combat unlawful employment, E-Verify and the Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers (IMAGE) program,” the statement continues.
Tyson is just one company ACVF recommends conservatives avoid investing in, including Delta Air Lines, Blackrock, the Walt Disney Company, Apple, Netflix, and Starbucks.