I am a University of Washington student doing a presentation on the
WPS and would like to present a little demographic information of the
farmworker population here in the Northwest. I realize that concrete
numbers are hard to come by, but I would like to just give the class
an idea of some characteristics of the group. If anyone would be so
kind to give me any answers that they know, or refer me to
documents/websites where I can get these answers, that would be
great! I am especially interested in Washington state numbers, but
can present numbers for the Northwest or California if that is all
that is available.

Here are some of my questions?

Where are the farmworkers from? I assume most are from Mexico - and
if so, do most return to Mexico every year?

Are there many workers that DO NOT speak Spanish or English as their
first language? I was told that in Oregon, many workers speak only
indigenous languages such as Trique or Mizteca.

What percentage are literate?

What sort of education level do they have? (I know it varies, but I
just want a general idea).

What percent of the farmworkers are actually migrant workers and what
percentage are permanent members of the community?

Thank you very much!!

Lisa