28/03/2026
Filipinos in the United States of America in the early 1920โs
During the "Great Depression Years" spanning the 1920s to the 1940s, pioneering Filipino migrant workers in the US faced a constant threat of violence from white supremacists.
Filipinos started arriving in California in early 1919. By 1924, Filipino farmworkers finishing their three-year contracts in Hawaii were relocating to the US mainland. In Hawaii, these men earned about $1.25 a day, while in California, they could make up to $4.00 a day.
Asian labor was vital for Californiaโs ranchers and farmers, yet white workers blamed Japanese and Chinese workers for undercutting their wages. As a result, the Immigration Act of 1924 was enacted to exclude Asians from entering the United States. However, Filipinos could not be barred because they came from an "American territory," and they were brought in to fill the gap left by barred Japanese and Chinese workers.
Before Exeter, the initial overt assaults on Filipinos had already occurred in the apple orchards of Washington State's Yakima and Wenatchee Valleys in 1928, with hate-fueled violence erupting again in May 1930 in the White River Valley south of Seattle and once more in Wapato in 1934. (Isolated attacks against Filipinos in Washington continued sporadically into the 1940s.) During times of economic hardship, Filipinos became easy targets, becoming the new focus of white hostility, even as many white workers often declined to do the jobs Filipinos held.
Filipino farm workers in town faced harassment from white youths who pushed them off sidewalks, threw stones at them, and tried to drive them away. Filipinos were scapegoated for keeping wages low or for taking jobs from whites.
When the Imperial Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and Clark Airfield in the Philippines on December 7 and 8, 1941, the situation for Filipino immigrants changed drastically. On January 2, 1942, to support the war effort in World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a law allowing Filipinos to enlist in the U.S. Armed Forces.
On April 1, 1942, the U.S. Army officially formed the 1st Filipino Battalion at Camp San Luis Obispo, California, marking a significant moment in military history. By 1943, the ranks of the 1st and 2nd Filipino Infantry Regiments grew to over 7,000 dedicated soldiers, all undergoing intense training in the scenic landscapes of Central California. In addition to these infantry units, 800 elite commandos, known as โMission Men,โ were selected to serve in the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion (Special), tasked with covert operations in Australia.
Together, these units demonstrated great valor and effectiveness in supporting General Douglas MacArthur's pivotal return to Leyte in the Southern Philippines on October 20, 1944 โ a crucial moment in the liberation of the Philippines during World War II.
References:
"An Oral History of the Great Depression," New York: Pantheon Books, 1986. Terkel, Studs.
"Filipino American National Historical Society" Alex S. Fabros, Jr. (retired Philippine American Military).
