Mexican workers initially came to the Willamette Valley in the early 1940s through the Bracero Program, a U.S. and Mexican government program established during World War II. The Bracero Program provided American farmers with hard-working agricultural laborers who were looking for a better life in America, and were willing to work for low wages. These workers had no basic labor rights: farmworkers are not protected under federal labor laws.

Today, Oregon farmworkers continue to face exploitation, and without collective bargaining agreements, they are vulnerable to unfair treatment. In addition to unfair labor practices, farmworkers face a host of problems including hazardous conditions, such as exposure to pesticides and chemicals, and substandard housing that is overcrowded and lacks adequate sanitation. In addition to receiving low wages, farmworkers rarely have had access to workers’ compensation, occupational rehabilitation, or disability compensation benefits. Latino workers frequently have been targeted by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), subjected to raids, and threatened with deportation.

In the mid-Willamette Valley, this situation remained constant until labor leaders such as Cipriano Ferrel and others began to organize workers and agitate for change. In 1977, Ferrel started the Willamette Valley Immigration Project. The WVIP conducted interviews with reforestation workers to document their living and working conditions. Between 1982 and 1984, it organized protests at the Portland INS office against widespread INS raids and deportation of treeplanters, thereby obtaining the release of some workers. The WVIP also campaigned against the revival of the Bracero program, which was part of proposed immigration legislation during the Reagan administration. WVIP advocated for a general amnesty for all workers. Today the WVIP continues to provide legal advice and representation to undocumented workers.