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Latino Immigration to Washington State
Mexican American communities in the Columbia River Basin began to grow dramatically
beginning in the early 1940s. World War II agricultural labor shortages drew more Mexican
Americans and Mexican immigrants to the region. The demand for agricultural labor in the
state and the internment of Japanese Americans in areas such as the Yakima Valley created
a labor crisis in the agricultural regions of the state. The solution was contracted Mexican
labor known as the Bracero program and Chicano migrant workers. The term Bracero
described Mexican workers in agriculture and later in the railroad industry from 1942-1947
in Washington state, though it lasted from 1942-1964 nationally. The United States
government also joined the effort by entering into an agreement with Mexico to import
Mexican workers – braceros - to harvest the crops in the Pacific Northwest and other
regions of country. Mexican Americans continued to migrate to the region.
Bracero Treatment and Strikes
Although they were needed for the war effort in the state, Braceros were not immune to
harmful treatment. While in Washington, Braceros experienced racism for the first time,
poor housing facilities, and inadequate treatment from farmers. In response to their
maltreatment many Braceros called on the Mexican consulate for protection and staged
huelgas (strikes). Due to the growing costs of Braceros, the program ended in the state in
1947, but revived again during the Korean War (1950-1953). The major unintended
consequence of the Bracero program included Chicano settlement in the state.
After World War II, the agricultural economy of Washington encouraged more settlement of
Latinos (mostly Chicanos), as farmers became dependent on migrant labor.
Eastern Washington. especially the Yakima Valley, was the first place of major settlement
of Latinos, but by the 1950s Latinos began to move out to the Puget Sound area and to the
Skagit Valley. During the 1950s most Latinos came from Texas and California and began to
settle permanently as Chicano labor replaced the Bracero labor of World War II.
After WWII, agricultural work opportunities continued to attract Mexicans and Mexican
Americans to Oregon, Idaho, and Washington. In Oregon Mexicans and Mexican
Americans from California and Texas worked the crops in the Rogue River, the Willamette,
Hood River, and the Treasure Valleys. In central Washington Mexicans and Mexican
Americans concentrated in the Yakima Valley but also worked in the Wenatchee Valley and
the Pasco and Walla Walla areas. In western Washington they worked as far north as the Mt.
Vernon area in the Skagit Valley. Mexicans and Mexican-Americans worked in the south
central and southwestern parts of Idaho, including the Treasure Valley. Depending on the
location these itinerant workers thinned sugar beets, topped onions, harvested hops and
green beans, and picked potatoes, apples, asparagus and cherries. As early as the mid-1940s
many Mexican American migrant workers began "settling out" of the migrant stream to seek
year-round employment and to establish permanent roots in the areas where they worked.
As new food processing plants provided jobs and as more of their children received an
education, Mexican Americans were able to establish communities.
1. How did Japanese Internment relate to Mexican Migration to Washington?
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2. What were the reasons that Mexicans migrated to Washington?
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3. What part of Washington did they migrate to the most? Why do you think they went
there?
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4. What challenges did braceros face in the Pacific Northwest? How did they face those
challenges?
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