An All-Too-Familiar Story: Hire Immigrants, Deal With Backlash

Posted by Brian Sparks|March 1, 2024

Echter’s Nursery and Garden Center in Colorado recently dealt with an issue that has become all too common in the horticulture industry: backlash from anti-immigrant voices in the local community. Like many green companies, Echter’s has responded to labor market pressures by hiring immigrants. The company launched a project to connect scores of new immigrants with potential employers in the green industry of plant growers and retailers.

Last month, Echter even tapped into a growing Facebook network of thousands Denverites who have helped newly arriving immigrants. They quickly learned the basics of immigration labor law. and rallied nine other plant-related businesses and connected with some 80 new immigrants who have work permits. An online spreadsheet helps the employers connect with job candidates.

However, a recent article on CPR.org (Colorado Public Radio) outlines how the company, a community favorite in Arvada, CO, has faced criticism in the form of hundreds of posts on social media and about a dozen messages and reviews sent to the company, many of them accusing Echter’s of taking jobs away from American citizens, or of hiring illegal immigrants.

It’s a situation that has played out in other areas of the country as well. You can read the entire article from Colorado Public Radio here.