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Main Leader: Cesar Chavez
Activist from 1927-1993
As a kid, he grew up on his family's farm but they lost it due to the Great Depression. His motivation to do this was because his family worked in the fields as migrant farm workers and saw their struggle.Cesar Chavez wanted to improve the treatment, pay and working conditions for farm work.
https://www.biography.com/people/cesar-chavez-9245781 -
1947 Mendez v Westminister
Sylvia Mendez was a girl from California, who was denied acceptance into a public school for whites only. She was a Hispanic child and her father, furious with the outcome, decided to take the public school district to court. The case Mendez v Westminster ruled in the favor of Mendez, and later became the first state to fully desegregate all schools.
http://www.uscourts.gov/educational-resources/educational-activities/background-mendez-v-westminster-re-enactment -
Creation of the American GI forum in 1948
Created by Hector Perez Garcia, an Amry Veteran medical doctor. After World War ll, Garcia saw the inequality in health care and education the Hispanic servicemen were facing in the pursuit of the American dream. He wanted an end to this and called together a meeting of more than 700 Mexican American veterans and later came the creation of the American GI Forum that ensured all veterans equal benefits regardless of their race or ethnicity.
http://agiftx.com/index.php?page=aboutus-history -
National Farm Workers' Association & The Delano Grape Strike
Labor union founded in 1962, improving wages, education, and working conditions for farmers. Chavez starts a strike (1965) against grape growers. Reason: farmworkers would stand in a hot field picking grapes for hours without a break and little pay. They demanded higher pay and better working conditions. Rest periods, toilets in the fields, clean drinking water, hand washing facilities, protective clothing against pesticide exposure were given to them. -
Immigration Reform and Control Act
Tighter security on the Mexican border but granted amnesty to all undocumented citizens that entered the country. This bill gave them the opportunity to apply and gain legal status if they met mandated requirements. Applicants had to prove that they lived and maintained a continuous physical presence in the U.S, possess a clean criminal record. Moreover, had to meet minimal knowledge requirements in U.S. history, government and the English language or be pursuing a course of study. -
DACA
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals is a kind of administrative relief from deportation. The purpose of DACA is to protect eligible immigrant youth who came to the United States when they were children from deportation. DACA gives undocumented immigrants the opportunity for good education and a work permit. The program expires after two years, subject to renewal. -
Major Accomplishments
-Improving wages, education, and working conditions for farmworkers
-The right for undocumented citizens to be in the United States
-Empowerment -
Continued Problems
-DACA is on the line
-Anyone stopped without a driver's license or proof of residency can be handed over to the immigration authorities.
