FOXMAN: We first heard about this program from both Tyson and Tent. And they were very excited to hire refugees, asylum seekers.

ARONCZYK: Tyson put out a press release that said, quote, "We are proud to play our part in promoting a society that is welcoming and supportive of people from all backgrounds."

GARCIA: So in February of last year, Simone goes to an office in lower Manhattan. She's there to report on this meeting between a group of migrants from Mexico, and Colombia, and Venezuela, and representatives from Tyson, the meat company.

FOXMAN: It was morning. It was extremely cold. But I will say, you know, it didn't look like anything super special.

ARONCZYK: Right. Right. If you were-- if you'd walked by the building, you would have no clue what was going on there that day.

FOXMAN: Absolutely, yeah.

GARCIA: Inside, there were translators and interviewers, some people from Tyson.

ARONCZYK: The potential employees were asked questions, given applications to fill in. And then, on the spot, they were offered jobs at a chicken plant in Humboldt, Tennessee.

FOXMAN: You know, I think there were 17 people hired. And ultimately, the event, sort of, continued for the following couple of days, and that included 70 more people the next week.

GARCIA: Tyson did a few rounds of hiring in New York. Their stated goal was that they would hire 2,500 asylum seekers and refugees this way, some of whom would be added to the workforce at their plant in Tennessee, which was already a mix of American-born workers and recent immigrants."