Migrant Workers in the 1930s - Chapters 1-10(A)

Before the Great Depression hit in the 1930s, migrant workers (such as Mexicans and Filipinos) were treated more fairly by the government and employers. Mexicans were given fair wages and work schedules as set from the government. Also, many U.S. farmers were willing to hire Mexicans.

As soon as the 1930s came, Mexicans were being faced by discrimination and even deportation. Government officials began to claim that Mexican immigrants were the ones that made up the majority of the unemployed. Farming employers were claiming that Mexicans were taking away jobs from whites. The truth was that many white-unemployed people were coming from the Midwest, where the dust bowl had happened.

As Mexicans began to build unions and having strikes, the government quickly responded. The government sent out repatriations to Mexican immigrants to send them back to Mexico. Not only Mexicans immigrants were being sent, but also Mexican Americans U.S. citizens. (Source)

The whites coming from the Midwest, were also migrant workers looking for jobs. Coming mostly from Oklahoma and Arkansas, these people were being called Okies and Arkies. (Source) California was not very welcoming with these new migrants as many police officers stopped them, and sent them back if they had no money with them. (Source) Not many employers were willing to hire these people, and they payed them very low wages. Eventually they did not stand these conditions and just gave up on farming. Many created shack towns called Oklahomas and Okievilles. These were hand built and had no plumbing or electricity. Because of the poor conditions, many suffered from malaria, typhoid, and smallpox. (Source)

In The Grapes of Wrath, many families from Tom's old neighborhood have been moving to the west. Muley's wife and kids have moved California and even his parents have moved out west. Even Tom's family is going west, after their stay with Tom's uncle. Their push factor was the bank taking away their land and homes. Their cotton crops were not producing enough, which made them poor and unable to pay the bank. Now all of them had to find somewhere else to make living.

Migrant Worker on a California Highway(Source)