It's ‘Isolating’ To Be the Only English Speaker on the Job

American workers in blue collar jobs are grappling with the “isolating” prospect that their workplaces are increasingly dominated by non-English-speaking foreigners.

In two reports over the last few weeks, white working class Americans chronicled and interviewed by the Washington Post and Humans of New York, revealed the gripping impact of mass immigration on the country’s workers.

The Washington Post report follows the story of 20-year-old Heaven Engle and 25-year-old Venson Heim, a couple who work at the Bell & Evans Plant 2 in Fredericksburg, Pennsylvania.

The couple is outnumbered in the chicken processing plant as Spanish speakers primarily from the Dominican Republic make up the vast majority of their colleagues.

“It sucks when you can’t talk to no one,” Heaven told the Washington Post.

Meanwhile, the Humans of New York Instagram account recently interviewed an American drywall finisher who says he has not worked with a fellow American in three years. The worker called his blue collar job “isolating,” noting that he is the first one to be cut from jobs as he is outnumbered by non-English speakers and immigrants from Central and South America.

“I haven’t worked with an American for three years. I’m a union drywall finisher, and my job has completely been taken over by Central and South Americans,” the worker said. “All of them have union cards now. Can you imagine being the only one on your crew who doesn’t speak Spanish?"

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