Bracero+Program+-+1930s+and+1940s

__** Definition: **__ A mexican laborer admitted legally into the U.S. for a short period to preform seasonal, usually agricultural, labor. The program was meant to alleviate the need for agricultural workers during and after the period of WWII

__** Historical Background: **__ On August 4, 1942, the U.S. and the Mexican government instituted the Bracero program. During the time of WWII, the demand for labor in the United States grew tremendously. The need for labor in the US coincided with the Mexicans need for money due to the Mexican revolution of 1910. Work and money became scarce and the governments of the USA and Mexico enabled the Bracero Program which would bring over 4 million Mexican workers across the borders. The Bracero workers contracts were controlled by independent farmers associations and the Farm Bureau.

__** Why Bracero? **__ As we can see, the program peaked in the year 1956 with over 400,000 Bracero workers coming into the Unite States // "More than 80,000 braceros pass through the El Paso Center annually. They're part of an army of 350,000 or more that marches across the border each year to help plant, cultivate and harvest cotton and other crops throughout the United States". // // (El Paso Herald Post, April 28, 1956) //
 * Bracero workers are paid less and so they help the farmer
 * but doesn't that cut down on American Jobs?
 * No one else will do any "stoop labor"
 * ~ Year ||~ Number of Braceros ||~ Applicable US Law ||
 * 1942 || 4,203 || (wartime) WWII ||
 * 1943 || (44,600)[|[2]] || (wartime) WWII ||
 * 1944 || 62,170 || (wartime) WWII ||
 * 1945 || (44,600) || (wartime) WWII ||
 * 1946 || (44,600) || Public Law 45 ||
 * 1947 || (30,000)[|[3]] || PL 45, PL 40 ||
 * 1948 || (30,000) || Public Law 893 ||
 * 1948-50 || (79,000/yr)[|[4]] || Period of administrative agreements ||
 * 1951 || 192,000[|[5]] || AA/Public Law 78 ||
 * 1952 || 197,100 || Public Law 78 ||
 * 1953 || 201,380 || Public Law 78 ||
 * 1954 || 309,033 || Public Law 78 ||
 * 1955 || 398,650 || Public Law 78 ||
 * **1956** || **445,197** || **Public Law 78** ||
 * 1957 || 436,049 || Public Law 78 ||
 * 1958 || 432,491 || Public Law 78 ||
 * 1959 || 444,408 || Public Law 78 ||
 * 1960 || 319,412 || Public Law 78 ||
 * 1961 || 296,464 || Public Law 78 ||
 * 1962 || 198,322 || Public Law 78 ||
 * 1963 || 189,528 || Public Law 78 ||
 * 1964 || 179,298 || Public Law 78 ||
 * 1965 || 20,286 || (after formal end of program) ||
 * 1966 || 8,647 ||
 * 1967 || 7,703 ||

__** Positive Effects: **__


 * Many accredit the Bracero program and the workers for the agricultural growth and success of America.
 * The Bracero workers' conditions were not unlivable, they were allowed to return home under emergency circumstances
 * The Bracero workers might not have survived if they had not been accepted into the program, many were better off for joining the program and the money it brought to the families of the workers.


 * __ Negative Effects: __**
 * The Bracero workers often suffered in less than satisfactory conditions and with little to do but work.
 * The contracts were written in English, which not many of the workers could understand, and many signed into the program, without knowing their rights or conditions that they would be entitled to.
 * Workers worked long hours with less than the minimum wage required and the programs end, it's director from the Department of labor official Lee G. Williams descried the program as "a system of legalized slavery".
 * Although the program has ended, the Bracero group still is exploited under the group names like Chile pickers and such.

__** Timeline: **__


 * August 4, 1942 – the Mexican Farm Labor Program Agreement is signed by the governments of Mexico and the United States, the first establishing the legalization and control of Mexican migrant workers along America’s southern border area
 * April 29, 1943 – the Mexican Labor Agreement is sanctioned by Congress though Public Law 45
 * The agreement guaranteed a minimum wage of 30 cents per hour and “humane treatment” for workers
 * With many braceros remaining in the United States after their contracts ended, the Immigration and Naturalization Service began Operation Wetback in 1954. Many US-born children of Mexican braceros were wrongly repatriated, along with their parents.


 * The Bracero program ended in 1964

__** Primary Source Document **__ []

__** Videos: **__ [] the negative side for the Bracero's. [] 1:45-4:25 Why Bracero?

__** Sites: Photos **__ [] [] []