Cesar Chavez; ‘striking’ down immigrants

Cesar Chavez is one of the more well-known Mexican-Americans due to his contributions to labor movements during the Civil Rights era. He fought for the working class, particularly farm workers, via nonviolent protest, including several strikes and boycotts. Despite the work he did for working class farmers, as well as his own heritage, Chavez had deep sentiments against other Mexican immigrants.

Chavez was born in Yuma, Arizona and began fieldwork after dropping out of school in the eighth grade. From there, he would bounce between several different labor jobs, including two years of military service, before becoming the organizer for the Community Service Organization in 1952. This officially began his career in activism, and he retained the position for 10 years before forming the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) to fight for the rights of farmers, including unionization.

As Chavez’s main concern was improving the welfare of farmers, he viewed many of the things that opposed his efforts with vitriol; one of his largest targets being undocumented Mexican immigrants. Immigrant workers were often used by companies to break strikes, as they were more likely to accept low wages out of desperation. Undocumented immigrants often were unable to take work other than manual labor due to their status.

Chavez and the United Farm Workers (UFW) dedicated many resources to halting immigration from Mexico and the deportation of immigrants in the United States, including the formation of a private border patrol force, or “wet line”, along the Arizona/Mexico border. In order to do so, the UFW had bribed San Luis city officials. The Confederation of Mexican Workers, a Mexican-American workers union, broke ties with the UFW over the formation of the immigration force. Chavez’s views towards undocumented immigrants lef to several UFW members to leave the union throughout its history, leading to the conception of the Texas Farm Workers Union and the Maricopa County Organizing Project, among others.

Chavez’s efforts eventually led to the signing of a labor bill protecting farm workers’ autonomy and their right to choosing their representatives. Despite the good he did, his views and actions on illegal immigration created many schisms among labor activists, and one can not help but wonder what further progress could have been made.