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Cesar Chavez
Born: March 31, 1927
Death: April 23, 1993 (66)
Cesar Chavez was born in Yuma, Arizona. At a young age, Cesar dropped out of school to help support his family farm. He would later join the then segregated navy at the age of 19. After his time in the navy Chavez would return to farming and seek to better working conditions for people like him. He formed the National Farm Workers Association, currently known as the United Farm Workers of America.
http://www.ufw.org/_page.php?inc=history/07.html -
Creation of the American GI forum in 1948
Due to prejudices against them, many Latino-American WW2 veterans faced many delays and general neglect of promises given to them through the GI Bill. Hector P. Garcia, along with 700 other Mexican-Americans, created the American GI forum in 1948 to combat these issues. This civil-rights organization was devoted to, and was helpful in, securing equal rights for all Mexican-Americans.
http://agiftx.com/index.php?page=aboutus-history -
The National Farm Workers' Association.
Cesar Chavez, along with Dolores Huerta formed The National Farm Workers' Association in 1962. The NFWA set out to correct the many wrongs in the farming industry. One achievement the NFWA accomplished was getting grape growers to accept union contracts. The NFWA acted through non violence and used methods of fasts and marches to achieve goals. -
Major accomplishments.
While the Latino movement was able to get the attention of JFK and got the president to pay active attention to Latino rights, the major victory of the movement was the Delano Grape Strike. Cesar Chavez and the now UFW (United Farm Workers) went on a massive 5-year campaign against the grape farmers and ultimately resulted in the unionization of farm workers. -
Reagan Passes the Immigration Reform and Control Act
The policy changes were made to take care of what was widely considered a "broken immigration system." Signed by Ronald Reagan, the bill was divided into three different sections:
-Employer Sanctions
-Legalization of Undocumented Immigrants; however there were eligibility requirements
-Border Security
This Act helped immensely with the issue of "undocumented immigrants [putting] a burden on the nation’s welfare system."
http://asu.news21.com/archive/2009/the_first_immigration_amnesty/index.html -
Obama's DACA executive order.
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) act is a act that helps immigrants that came to America as children -
Continuing Problems
Texas passed a bill mandating voters to present voter-identification cards. It’s indirect fees, along with logistical difficulties, pointedly affects the poorer communities, which is mostly made up of Latino-Americans. Another example, is an Arizona law, SB 1070, which had the stated purpose of combating illegal immigration. While the idea seems appealing, it allows local law enforcement to openly racially-profile any person they choose. http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/1482606/edit
