People working in the meatpacking industry and other such industries are just as essential as medical workers and should be among the first to receive coronavirus vaccines, Domingo Garcia, president of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), tells Newsmax TV.
"I've visited a lot of our meatpacking plants where our pork chops come from, our steaks, the chicken that we have in our tables, and these are frontline essential workers who work under terrible and tough conditions, to be honest with you, and they deserve the vaccine," Garcia told Tuesday's "National Report."
Many meatpacking plants were hard-hit by COVID at the beginning of the year, he noted, and many have now taken precautions that have reduced infection numbers.
"But we need to do more," said Garcia, who represents the largest and oldest Hispanic group in America. "And I believe that just like healthcare workers, it's important that these essential frontline workers get the vaccines so the food keeps coming to America's tables."
Garcia said it is time Democrats and Republicans find compromise during the pandemic.
"If anything should unite Americans, irregardless of which party you're from, it's fighting the pandemic," he said. "Lives are being lost, businesses, small businesses."
Essential workers have never been able to work from home, he noted.
"They're the ones out there in the field, getting those vegetables to us," Garcia said. "They're the ones of the meatpacking plants. They're the ones driving those FedEx and UPS trucks. They're the ones at the grocery stores.
"So we need to make sure that they're taking care of. But also those small businesses that depend on people that they get the assistance they need."
Important: See Newsmax TV now carried in 70 million cable homes, on DirecTV Ch. 349, Dish Network Ch. 216, Xfinity Ch. 1115, Spectrum, U-verse Ch. 1220, FiOS Ch. 615, Optimum Ch. 102, Cox cable, Suddenlink Ch. 102, CenturyLink 1209, Mediacom Ch. 277, Frontier 615 or Find More Cable Systems – Click Here.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.