Orchards During War: Braceros in the Northwest

The bracero workers of the American Northwest staged labor stoppages between 1942 and 1947 due to neglect from the American and Mexican governments. With the outbreak of World War II, a huge demand for labor had risen in the United States, especially in the states of Idaho, Washington and Oregon. The United States government introduced an agreement with the Mexican government to allow Mexican laborers to work in the United States on a temporary basis. These workers were dubbed “braceros”, a Spanish term for manual laborers. Although American farms and railroads had a demand for Mexican labor, the treatment of these individuals varied. The Mexican government had oversight on the working conditions of these laborers, but the American Southwest gained more attention than the American Northwest. As a result, the braceros of the Northwest often took measures into their own hands by staging work stoppages. Although some laborers received poor treatment, many braceros looked back upon their work experience in the 1940s as positive experience in their lives.