History shows workers are plentiful to U.S.

By: Chris Morris

Posted: 4/19/06

Studying the history and flow of immigration into the United States from Mexico, it is difficult to pinpoint a starting date.

This is largely due to the fact that much of what is now the Southwestern United States was Mexican territory until shortly before the onset of the American Civil War.

Following the Mexican-American War in 1848, the United States received a large chunk of land including all of what are now the states of California, Nevada and Utah, along with the majority of Arizona and pieces of a few other states.

Following the Mexican Cession, as this land acquisition was called, and again later in 1953 when the United States purchased the remainders of Arizona and New Mexico, Mexican citizens found themselves annexed into a fledgling young country that was literally on the brink of waging a war with itself.

As Manifest Destiny lead to westward expansion, many of the Mexican landowners were also stripped of their lands despite what had been agreed upon at the end of the Mexican-American war.

As settlers took over the southwestern portion of the United States, many of the Mexican-American natives of the area found themselves homeless and excluded from the land-grab that was occurring in the area.
As the region expanded, Mexican-Americans were forced to take low-wage jobs in the rail, mining and farming industries and lead transitory lives moving from site to site trying to follow the work.

In addition to the American citizens who became migrant workers, immigrants began coming up from Mexico looking to share in the work and escape the civil unrest of their native land which, by 1910, was engaged in the Mexican Revolution.

Life for these workers could be dismal. They worked long hours, doing manual labor in exchange for very little money and were given very poor living facilities at many of the job sites.

Despite the exploitative situation, workers were plentiful and helped the United States maintain the home front during World War I.
However, once the war ended, there was a backlash against the migrant workers and many were deported.

Turmoil led to another immigration wave in the late 1920s, but once again Mexican workers were sent home, this time when the Great Depression ravaged the United States economy.

The United States and Mexican governments set up a repatriation program that even pressured many Mexican-American citizens to return to Mexico.

The next great period of immigration from Mexico to the United States came along with World War II. This time, the U.S. Government sanctioned the immigration by instating the Bracero Program in 1942.

The Bracero Program was designed to bring workers from Mexico to fill needs as low-wage unskilled laborers. The problems, however, were the same as before and these workers were mistreated as well.

Upon the folding of the program in 1964, it was referred to by former program director Lee G. Williams as "legalized slavery."
In 1962, Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta teamed up to form what is now the United Farm Workers.

Together, they set about trying to unionize migrant workers in the United States and fought for the worker's rights from a united front. Their Delano Grape Strike in 1965 was the first blow struck in a series of peaceful battles for those rights.

Following a lifetime of tireless work on the behalf of migrant workers and a long day of court testimony in their defense, Chavez died on April 23, 1993 an international symbol of the working class. Due largely to the movement started by Chavez, working conditions for immigrants have improved.

More troublesome today is the lucrative and violent trade of the smuggling of immigrants across the border.

That problem coupled with an American political climate that is suspicious of foreigners entering the country is forcing the government to take another long hard look at ironing out a situation that is as old as the American Southwest itself.