The Question That Fuels Outrage
The immigration debate is often framed as a simple moral test, reduced to a binary question that plays well on social media:
“Should we allow people from other countries to live in the United States without going through the citizenship process? Yes, or No?”
Influencers pose this question knowing exactly what will happen next. Comment sections quickly fill with heated responses of NO, followed by claims that undocumented immigrants are only looking for a free ride, welfare, food, and benefits taken from U.S. citizens.
Not so fast.
The Assumption Behind the “No”
In a perfect world, the answer would be no. That answer assumes the systems people believe are in place are actually functioning as intended. It assumes there is a fair, accessible, and consistently enforced immigration process available to everyone. It assumes undocumented immigrants simply chose to bypass a legitimate pathway.
But that assumption collapses when examined against how certain industries actually operate.
Recruitment, Not Illegal Entry
In multiple sectors, particularly industrial agriculture and meat processing, people were not simply “showing up illegally.” They were actively recruited. They were lured to the United States with promises of steady work, stability, and in some cases, assistance with legal documentation that never materialized.
This reality is documented in Chapters 9 and 10 of Leah Garcés’ book Transfarmation: . 
Garcés details how immigrants and refugees are drawn into animal agriculture through informal labor pipelines and false assurances, only to find themselves trapped in some of the most dangerous and dehumanizing jobs in the country. Once here, undocumented status becomes leverage. Fear replaces choice. Silence becomes survival.
When the Promised Process Disappears
The process people assume exists was often promised and then quietly withheld. Labor continued to be extracted uninterrupted while workers were left with no protection, no recourse, and no realistic way out.
This is not a breakdown of the system. It is how the system functions.
Disposable Labor by Design
Will Potter’s book Little Red Barns further exposes how immigrant labor in industrial agriculture is not incidental. It is structural. Workers are rendered disposable and controllable precisely because of their legal vulnerability. Many live under constant threat of retaliation, deportation, or violence if they report injuries, unsafe conditions, wage theft, or abuse.
The system depends on that fear to function.
Who Really Benefits
Taken together, these accounts reveal a deeply uncomfortable truth. Immigration enforcement is not simply failing. In certain sectors, it is selectively ignored because undocumented labor is profitable. Corporations benefit while workers absorb the risk, the harm, and the silence.
This reality rarely enters the public conversation.
The Myth of the “Free Ride”
The common accusation that undocumented immigrants are here to take advantage of welfare and public benefits
does not withstand scrutiny. Most undocumented workers are barred from accessing those benefits.
They are working. Often in jobs that are physically punishing, dangerous, and deliberately kept out of public view. Jobs that keep food on grocery shelves, meat moving through processing plants, crops harvested, and consumer prices artificially low.
Why Deportation Is Not a Solution
So while the immigration issue is often framed as a simple yes or no question, with deportation offered as the solution, that framing ignores a deeper reality. There are industries that rely on misleading the public in order to continue profiting.
These industries publicly champion law and order while privately depending on a workforce made compliant through fear. Deportation does not dismantle this system. It reinforces it.
Accountability Where It Belongs
A huge part of the solution is holding companies accountable that claim to want to fix the immigration issue while abusing it at the same time. As long as corporations are allowed to profit from undocumented labor with minimal consequences, exploitation remains baked into the system.
Additionally, when people continue to buy products from the very companies that are highly responsible for the lies and deceit, they too, are part of the problem.
When enforcement focuses almost exclusively on workers, it shields the real power centers from scrutiny.
What Real Reform Requires
Real reform requires shifting accountability upstream. That means serious financial penalties, loss of contracts, executive accountability, and public transparency for companies that benefit from deceptive recruitment and unsafe labor practices.
Without this shift, calls to fix immigration amount to little more than rhetoric.
Beyond Yes or No
In a perfect world, systems would work. Recruitment would be ethical. Legal pathways would be real, not
performative. Accountability would be enforced.
But we do not live in a perfect world. We live in one where much is hidden from public view. Until that reality is acknowledged, immigration cannot be honestly debated as a yes or no question.
About Kathleen Gage
Kathleen Gage is a multifaceted professional and longtime activist, known as the founder of Vegan Visibility. An advocate for animals and social justice for decades, Kathleen has built a career that aligns business strategy with deeply held values. She holds certifications in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and Plant-Based Nutrition from eCornell University and is a seasoned business consultant, keynote speaker, and marketing strategist. Most recently, she joined the Board of Directors for Blue Barn Farm & Sanctuary in Creswell, Oregon.
Kathleen’s work includes hosting the Vegan Visibility Virtual Summit, a niche event that supports vegan and plant-based entrepreneurs through high-level training from industry experts. Since establishing her business in 1994, she has successfully navigated economic shifts across multiple sectors, including high-tech, healthcare, and publishing, while helping mission-driven professionals increase visibility and impact.
Her influential voice extends through podcasts such as Vegan Visibility and Plant Based Eating for Health, where she advocates for a sustainable, compassionate world and shares practical guidance with a global audience. An award-winning speaker and past president of the Utah chapter of the National Speakers Association, Kathleen is widely respected for her ability to craft marketing strategies that are both effective and values-aligned.
Based in Central Oregon, Kathleen is deeply committed to animal rescue, advocacy, and ethical living. Her work, both personal and professional, reflects a lifelong dedication to creating systems that support compassion, accountability, and long-term change.