(Radio Iowa) – Congressman Zach Nunn says J-B-S has been able to hire replacements for workers at the company’s Ottumwa pork plant who had their visas revoked and are being deported.

Nunn, a Republican from Ankeny, represents the third congressional district, which includes Ottumwa. President Trump ended a federal program that had allowed people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to enter the United States and work for up to two years. The move impacted over 200 J-B-S employees in Ottumwa. Nunn says after President Trump’s speech in Des Moines on July 3rd, he had an opportunity to lobby the Trump Administration about updating visa programs for foreign-born workers.

Nunn said. U-S Customs and Border Protection officials say illegal border crossings in July dropped to the lowest level ever in the 43 years the data has been reported.

Congresswoman Ashley Hinson, a Republican from Marion, says there is a need for a strong agriculture workforce.

Hinson represents Iowa’s second congressional district. There are no J-B-S meatpacking plants in the district.