The sudden changes to the immigration statuses of thousands has left immigrant communities across the United States uncertain of their future and the companies they work for without the necessary labor, reports Andrea Hsu of NPR.  

More than half a million immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela were stripped of their humanitarian parole. An ongoing legal battle aims to prevent immediate deportations, but, as the litigation drags on, employers are forced to remove affected workers from payroll.

"It's killing me, because I'm watching them walk out. I know these people because I work with them every day,"said Tom Torres, a mechanic for Kraft Heinz in Holland, Michigan.  

In Iowa, a meatpacking plant in Ottumwa was forced to let 200 workers go in July due to the changes in immigration status, reports Donnelle Eller of the Des Moines Register. 

Eller notes that the Meat Institute, the industry’s lobbying group, estimates that 20% of the American meat packing workforce have lost or will lose their jobs due to the shutdown of programs like humanitarian parole.  

Additionally, in Maryland, the local poultry industry is home to many Haitian workers, reports Paul Kiefer of The Washington Post.  

Now, many are uncertain of their future. 

"I have so much to lose,"said Michelle, a Haitian poultry worker who spent more than a decade at Perdue’s Salisbury plant. "And I have nowhere else to go."