This archive report was first published on 28 December 2019.
Mississippi's chicken country was left reeling after ICE raids in 2019, but the crisis also presented an opportunity for workers to find new jobs. However, the challenges of the industry may prove too great for new recruits.
At the Koch Foods plant in Morton, where more than one-third of the 680 arrested workers were picked up, the impact of the raids was stark. According to an affidavit taken by Robert H. Elrod, a vice president of human resources, 272 of the 1,170 employees at the plant were Hispanic.
Marquese Parks, a staffing agency worker who helped Koch Foods find new employees, said applicants included a diverse range of people, but noted that Latinos were underrepresented. He also revealed that potential hires were being subjected to strict identification checks.
Mr. Parks, who is black and grew up in Morton, expressed concerns about the new recruits' ability to last on the job. “I honestly don’t think they will stay because of the simple fact that the jobs are that hard,” he said. “It’s something they didn’t see themselves doing growing up. Something they don’t want to do.”
Despite the challenges, the opportunity to earn more than $11 an hour was too enticing for some workers to resist. Niah Hill, manager of the Sonic Drive-In in Morton, said 10 of her workers quit soon after the raid at Koch Foods, drawn by the promise of higher wages.
