Out of the more than one million workers who came to the United States to work the fields during the 22 year period of the claims, only about 100,000 have been recognized by the Mexican government. Each worker who qualifies could receive about $10,000 in U.S. dollars.“My grandfather always said he had a savings account from working in the fields during the 1940s and 1950s,” said Vincent Perez of Santa Paula, who supported recent demonstrators at the Mexican Consulate in Oxnard. “I don’t know if it was true or not but he believed it... I filed an application, but I don’t think he’ll ever see any of the money. He didn’t keep any records if there were any. He has early stage Alzheimer’s disease, and I don’t expect this will be resolved any time soon, if ever.”Demonstrations also have occurred at other Mexican Consulates throughout the state.
1942-1964: Farm laborers claiming past pay supposedly sent to Mexico
September 07, 2005
Santa Paula News
September just might be the month that thousands of Mexican farm laborers are repaid money they say has been owed to them for decades... or not.
By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesSeptember just might be the month that thousands of Mexican farm laborers are repaid money they say has been owed to them for decades... or not. The laborers worked in the United States from 1942 to 1964, and allege they were contracted to work for U.S. companies with promises that 10 percent of their pay would be sent to Mexico where they could retrieve it after they returned home.The glitch is that records of the agreement are not available, either from the companies allegedly involved, Mexican banking institutions or farmworkers claiming they are owed the money. And no one really knows if any of the targeted companies actually took the funds from the laborers, or if the savings program was just a scam to get workers to sign up for work. To further complicate the matter Mexico has allocated funds to pay claims, but issuing payments could be problematic.The issue has been ongoing, with hundreds of thousands of migrant workers petitioning the Mexican government for several years seeking the back pay. Although the Mexican Congress this year passed a law that would ensure that workers get paid by setting aside $29 million in American dollars, there is no documentation confirming the original transactions.
