Migrant Workers

Kylan Tomita

Kainoa Ferguson

          The life of a Migrant worker: moving from place to place to find work on farms in poor working conditions."  Mexican and Mexican American workers often earned more in the U.S. than they could in Mexico's civil war economy, although California farmers payed Mexican and Mexican American workers significantly less than whit american workers." The higher pay in the United States attracted migrant workers from Mexico because they were desperate for work and pay. Due to the increase of Mexican migrant workers, 3/4 of California's 200,000 farm workers were foreign." As this rapid shift of Mexico's working population occurred the first labor agreement between the United States and Mexico was formed."  This created a more secure immigration system because workers would have to get an "Okay" from their government before immigration.  An "Okay" would only be given if U.S. farm owners provided a legal contract for all Mexican workers which guaranteed wages and work schedules.  Because, migrant workers from Mexico were desperate for work, they migrated to the U.S. 

          The influx of migrant workers caused a disagreement between white Americans and Mexican Americans. "As the great depression took a toll on California's economy during the 1930s, however, Mexicans and Mexican Americans became targets for discrimination and removal." Migrants workers took up most of the farm jobs that White Americans claimed was theirs. They were so enraged that they began to discriminate against the Mexicans. "White government officials claimed that Mexican immigrants made up the majority of the California unemployed." But in reality a new supply of white refugees desperate for jobs flooding California from the midwest making up the majority of the unemployed. Which made the Mexican Americans made and fought for their rights.  In all this created a big problem and leaded to the result of border rules.

http://www.museumca.org/picturethis/timeline/depression-era-1930s/migrant-farm-workers/info
http://www.migrantclinician.org/issues/migrant-info/migrant.html