Migrants protest after over 100 workers suddenly lose their jobs

An egg factory under the umbrella of the nation’s largest fresh egg producer and distributor has suddenly laid off between 150 and 200 migrants in Delta, Utah.

Delta Egg Farm informed the workers of their fates this week as many were let go or expected to be relieved of their duties, reported KSL.com, which was informed of the firings by officials from El Gallinero, a labor contracting firm in Delta.

In 2023, the farm’s parent company—Cal-Maine Foods, which is based in Ridgeland, Mississippi—reported fourth-quarter net sales of $688.7 million amid total fiscal year net sales of $3.1 billion. Newsweek has contactedCal-Maine for comment via email.

Wednesday, between 50 and 75 relieved employees and El Gallinero representatives demonstrated on a street in Delta, KSL.com reported. They held U.S. flags and signs that said “We Feed America” and “150 Families Without Jobs.”

KSL.com reported that several migrants it spoke with at the demonstration said they lacked proper work authorization. Pedro Gonzalez, an administrator at El Gallinero, told the outlet that many of the egg factory’s former workers were from Peru, while others might be awaiting asylum claims.

“They come with a card. We don’t ask questions,” he told KSL.com. He added that El Gallinero officials took migrants’ work documents at face value.

Gonzalez also defended the migrant workers, who he said performed physically laborious jobs that many white, non-Hispanic individuals typically quit after a day or week.

He said migrant workers helped Delta Egg Farm fill vacancies in the late 2000s, boosting daily production to about 3 million eggs per day.

One Peruvian migrant told the outlet he and his former co-workers were “herded” out “like animals.”

“All of us here were fired,” said another woman, who declined to provide her name as she was not authorized to work in the U.S., KSL.com reported. “They haven’t told us anything. We want them to give us our jobs back and give us an explanation why they got rid of us this way.”

Antonio Morales, a migrant from Mexico who worked for the farm for 14 years, expressed uncertainty due to his new circumstances.

“Fourteen years, and one day to the next, they fire us,” Morales told the outlet. “It isn’t fair.”

In 2016, Utah was home to “95,000 undocumented immigrants,” comprising about 38 percent of the state’s total immigrant population and 3 percent of the total state population, the American Immigration Council reported.

Another 140,517 people in Utah, including 71,207 U.S. citizens, “lived with at least one undocumented family member between 2010 and 2014,” the nonprofit organization said.

In 2014, Cal-Maine Foods acquired 50 percent of the membership interests of Delta Egg Farm from Sunbest Foods of Iowa Inc. for $17 million.

In November, Cal-Maine Foods was found guilty by a jury for purportedly inflating egg prices for more than a decade in the case Kraft Foods Global, Inc. v. United Egg Producers, Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

“While we are disappointed with the overall decision, we prevailed on a number of issues that we believe are important and should ultimately define this case,” Cal-Maine said in a statement at the time. “The plaintiffs alleged a conspiracy running from 1998-2008 with damages extending through 2012. The court and jury determined that any alleged damages would be limited to the period 2004-2008. The jury also rejected other key portions of the plaintiffs’ case that we believe should limit the plaintiffs’ damages request further.”