Mexican Migrant Workers in the 20th Century

Have you ever had to move to a different town before? Maybe you just moved somewhere new, or maybe you have always lived in the same place. But can you imagine having to move to a new place every few months? This is what Mexican migrant farm workers had to do in California in the 1900s. Because they worked in fields and farms, they had to move several times a year, every time there was a new crop to harvest.

Who worked in the fields?

Many people of Mexican descent had lived in California for a long time before it first became an American state in 1850. The territory used to belong to Mexico, and many residents did not leave when the United States bought the land.

However, even more Mexican immigrants crossed the border when Mexico experienced a revolution in 1910. The revolution put some in danger and they fled for safety. The revolution also caused an economic downturn in Mexico, and many workers realized they could earn more money in the United States than they could in their home country.

Workers continued to move to California and other southwest states throughout the 1920s. The U.S. government set up a program to give immigrants short-term work visas. The program was designed for workers to come to the U.S. for a short time, just long enough to earn money to send back to their families. Most workers relied on these visas to stay in the country, but some stayed long enough to earn their citizenship and have children.

When the Great Depression hit the U.S. in the 1930s, unemployment across the country rose to 25%. Many white Americans grew upset, believing that immigrants were “taking” their jobs. They blamed the Mexican workers for the fact that so many other people did not have jobs. Local and even state governments began to deport anyone who looked Mexican. Police did not bother to check if the people they removed were citizens.

Life as a migratory worker

The workers who remained in the states often became migratory workers. They had to move around as different crops came into season, so they could be employed all year round. Life as a migratory worker in the 1930s was hard. Even though agriculture in California depended on migratory workers, they made the lowest wages in the country. Farm owners did not treat their laborers with respect. Most farms did not have bathroom facilities or water for the workers to drink, and there was no place to wash dangerous pesticide chemicals off their hands.

Families moved too much and did not make enough money to own a house, so they usually stayed in makeshift homes right next to the fields. They built these houses out of whatever they could find, including scrap wood, cardboard, canvas, or tin cans. Although it was technically illegal, some children had to work in the fields alongside their parents for long hours. Even when children could go to school during the days, they had to change schools so often that it was very difficult to learn.

Government intervention

The U.S. government started programs to help families hurt by the Great Depression, but few of these programs applied to agricultural workers. The one program that brought some assistance was the Farm Security Administration, which set up living camps and provided food and medicine to migratory workers. They separated Mexican and Mexican-American workers from whites because they did not want racial tensions to cause problems in the camps.

A few Mexican workers tried to organize strikes and protests during the Depression, but they did not succeed in improving working or living conditions. After the Depression ended, life did not get much easier for the migratory laborers. However, change began when Cesar Chavez first created a union for farm workers in 1965: the National Farm Workers Association. The NFWA wanted higher wages and better working conditions for all laborers, Mexican and white alike.

Reform at last

One of the NFWA’s most famous campaigns was their strike and boycott against grape growers in California. It began in 1965 when fruit companies refused to meet the demands of their workers. The workers went on strike and would not agree to keep working until they were paid better. To raise awareness and pressure the fruit companies, the NFWA organized a 300-mile march to Sacramento, the capital of California. They also encouraged consumers around the country not to buy grapes. Finally, in 1970, the grape growers agreed to give their workers better wages.

Today, Mexican immigrants or people of Mexican descent still make up a large majority of farm workers. In 2005, a survey found that 53% of these workers were undocumented workers, 21% were permanent residents, and 25% were full U.S. citizens. Most farm workers still make less than $10,000 per year, especially since many are paid per bucket of fruit they pick, rather than per hour. Despite some improvements from the 1930s, being a farm worker is still a dangerous and difficult job. Many organizations and politicians are still working to improve the lives of migrant laborers across the country.