In the beginning of the 20th century, Utah became one of the largest domestic American producers of sugar through sugar beet farming. The industry extended into neighboring states as well. The workers who planted and harvested those beets were mainly migrant Mexican and Mexican-American laborers. Migrant Hispanic laborers were also heavily involved with sheep herding and harvesting onions, potatoes, tomatoes, apples, cherries, pears, raspberries, and apricots. They made the backbone of the agricultural and meat industries in the state then and today, Latino workers (mainly of Mexican descent) continue to be vital to these industries. The history of Hispanic migrant labor in Utah demonstrates both their importance and their vulnerability that has persisted since the start of the 1900s.

Mexican migrant workers became integral to the economy of Utah starting in the early 20th century with the sugar industry, where many of the workers were concentrated in Garland, Utah. In 1918, reports from the Salt Lake Tribune detailed conditions of workers such as lack of running water, stoves, and toilets. Hispanic families nonetheless invested in the community by assisting in the construction of schools in Garland. Additionally, the wives of Hispanic families often worked for families nearby, further contributing to the economy’s function. Many of these migrant workers eventually left due to the lack of economic mobility and low wages, although others at the time incorrectly surmised that the workers’ departure was due to an inability to assimilate their Mexican-Catholic culture into the anglo-Mormon communities.

Poor conditions and treatment was a trend for migrant workers throughout the state. Accordingly, workers did not highly regard Utah. In the 1950s, Utah began an intense effort to attract more migrant workers. At the same time, the state created strict systems that would require those migrant workers to return to their country when the harvest was over. Despite these efforts to draw more workers to the state, many migrant workers did not return to Utah for a second harvest in response to continually poor conditions including lack of education opportunities for their children, poor housing situations, and no health care services. During that same decade, the Mexican Consulate in Salt Lake City officially reported that violations of the housing codes, unfair wages, and labor abuses were being experienced by migrant workers throughout Utah. In 1957 the state created the “Annual Worker Plan” to oversee migrant labor in Utah and prevent bad treatment. New regulations by the state also lessened the number of children being employed in the fields, a practice that had been prevalent since the 1920s. Hispanic groups formed other programs on behalf of migrant laborers. In 1969, due to internal lobbying by Hispanics in Utah and nationwide labor movements, the Utah government started an official program called the Utah Migrant Council on behalf of migrant laborers of all races and ethnicities.

Despite these efforts, Utah continues to struggle with attracting enough migrant workers. In 1986 a research team found that disease and illness were most prevalent among migrant workers in Utah. They face low birth weight, high rates of infant mortality, tuberculosis, and measles. In 2010, the Utah Migrant and Seasonal Farm Worker Coalition estimated that workers entering the state earned an annual income of $7,500 per year. Migrant workers constitute the most vulnerable population within the state—the middle men between economic prosperity and economic disparity for Utah and who have little opportunity for educational, economic, or social advancements in the state.

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Mining, railroads, and agriculture were the primary industries which attracted migrant Hispanic laborers (mostly Mexicans and Mexican-Americans) to Utah during the early-twentieth century to Utah. Beginning in 1910, the Mexican Revolution caused a large influx of Mexicans to flee to Utah to avoid violence and economic strain. In the ten years between the 1910 census to the 1920 census, the population of Hispanics in Utah grew from 166 to 1,666. This developing sector of the population was integral to the development of Utah as a whole by mining the state’s resources and building its railways.

Despite how much employers relied on their labor, Mexicans faced serious dicrimination. Often mining labor leaders held deep prejudices against Spanish-speakers, despite being fellow laborers. Anglos considered migrant miners a threat to labor strikes, and when Mexicans were hired to break a massive strike in Bingham Canyon, mining leaders blamed the migrant workers instead of the employers who underpaid them both. This prejudice, along with dismal living conditions, led many Hispanic workers to leave the state or work at the railroad during the Great Depression. However, after World War II some previous workers returned to the mines with their families and a desire to stay in Utah. The majority of Hispanic miners who worked in Bingham Canyon lived in Dinkeyville, a subsection of nearby Copperton. Mexican miners and their families were barred from living in the main city of Copperton and instead had to deal with the scarcity of water in Dinkeyville. However, Hispanic miners who had accumulated more experience in Bingham Canyon were eventually able to buy real estate in Copperton, which they often rented out to other Hispanic workers.

The railroad industry also relied on the labor of Mexican workers, in addition to other migrant workers. Mexicans were among the many immigrant laborers of various ethnicities who built the first transcontinental railroad in 1869. For most of the first half of the twentieth century, railroad workers consisted mainly of young, single men. While Bingham Canyon's Anglo American miners had been hostile to Mexicans, Vincent Mayer Sr., a migrant from Mexico, recalled living alongside Greek immigrants simply as fellow railroad workers out a life amid their shared poverty. His Greek neighbors, he remembered even 45 years later, had figured out how to make even weeds taste good. In regards to living conditions for railroad workers, Mayer remembered always being seated in the back of the theater and not being able to eat in many of the nicer restaurants due to his race. As more railroad workers brought their families to live with them, some utilized discarded railroad cars as their homes. These railroad cars had no running water and were often covered in soot from the railroad.

As early as 1910, Hispanics created different organizations to alleviate some of the issues facing migrant Hispanic workers. The Mexican Cruz Azul (Mexican Blue Cross) in Bingham City provided monetary support to individuals and families. In addition, they sponsored cultural and social events for the Hispanic community. This led to a unification among Hispanics of different countries, although many migrant workers originated from Mexico. The Mexican Consulate, created in 1912 and centered in Salt Lake City, also worked to solve unfair treatment for Mexicans, and it often worked on behalf of all Hispanics.

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