An employee of Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry who was recruited by CEO Sachin Shivaram could face deportation after his asylum claim was revoked.
Wisconsin Public Radio reports that Josue Rodriguez came to the United States three years ago, seeking asylum from violence in Nicaragua. Rodriguez got a job at a sausage factory in Green Bay, where he worked for about a year before Shivaram recruited Rodriguez to work for his company.
“He was able to weld and all sorts of things, and I was like, ‘Oh, my God. This is a person we definitely want in our company,’” Shivaram said.
Shivaram says Rodriguez has been reliable and “works very hard.”
Rodriguez believes a deportation order was issued because he missed a court hearing in his asylum case. Rodriguez learned of the order when he and his wife, Nikala, were meeting with an immigration attorney to see if he could gain permanent legal status as a result of their marriage.
Shivaram said the biggest challenge facing the Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry is a shortage of workers. About two-thirds of the company’s new hires are immigrants.
“Anyone who says, ‘Oh, just hire local people to do the jobs,’ clearly has not tried to,” he said. “We have a very compelling pay package, and we are not able to find people.”
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