Most of the migrants worked in agriculture but a few worked in industry or railroads. The United States brought the Mexican workers into the country on temporary, short-term contracts.
What was the program that brought Mexicans into the United States to work?
An executive order called the Mexican Farm Labor Program established the Bracero Program in 1942. This series of diplomatic accords between Mexico and the United States permitted millions of Mexican men to work legally in the United States on short-term labor contracts.
What kind of work did the braceros do?
Braceros worked on farms and on railroads , making it possible for the U.S. economy to meet the challenges imposed by the war effort. existed and viewed the Bracero program as a way for the U.S. to obtain cheap labor.
What did Mexico gain from the Bracero Program?
Under the 1942-64 Bracero programs, between 1.5 million and two million Mexicans gained experience working legally in US agriculture , and at least 100,000 became legal immigrants when their employers sponsored them for immigrant visas in the late 1960s.
What were Mexican workers called?
This agreement, known as the Bracero Program, enabled Mexican workers — known as “Braceros” or “person who does manual labor” — to sign short-term contracts to harvest crops and perform other manual labor jobs in the U.S. Agricultural businesses pushed for the program to fill the gap left by American workers who were ...
Does the Bracero Program still exist?
Over 4.6 million contracts were issued over the 22 years of the Bracero Program. Though Congress let the program expire in 1964, it set the stage for decades of labor disputes and a dynamic of migrant labor that still exists today .
How much did braceros get paid?
The bracero program guaranteed workers a minimum wage of 50 cents per hour , insurance and safe, free housing. However, farm owners frequently failed to live up to these requirements. Housing and food routinely was well below standards, and wages were not only low, but also frequently paid late or not at all.
What types of injustices and abuses did Bracero laborers face?
Many laborers faced an array of injustices and abuses, including substandard housing, discrimination, and unfulfilled contracts or being cheated out of wages .
Why did farm owners want the Bracero Program to continue after WWII?
The Bracero Program was created by executive order in 1942 because many growers argued that World War II would bring labor shortages to low-paying agricultural jobs . ... Farm workers already living in the United States worried that braceros would compete for jobs and lower wages.
Why was the Bracero Program bad?
The program came to an end in 1964 in part because of concerns about abuses of the program and the treatment of the Bracero workers . Although the program was supposed to guarantee a minimum wage, housing, and health care, many workers faced low wages, horrible living and working conditions, and discrimination.
What president started the Bracero Program?
President Truman signed Public Law 78 (which did not include employer sanctions) in July 1951. Soon after it was signed, United States negotiators met with Mexican officials to prepare a new bilateral agreement. This agreement made it so that the U.S. government were the guarantors of the contract, not U.S. employers.
Was the Bracero program successful?
The Legacy of the Bracero Program
American farmers quickly adjusted to the end of the Bracero Program, as by the end of 1965, some 465,000 migrants made up a record 15 percent of the 3.1 million employed U.S. farm workers. ... Finally, the Bracero Program led to the successful unionization of farm workers .
How can a Mexican work in the US?
You can go directly to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) port of entry , with your documentation for an interview to be admitted to the U.S. as a nonimmigrant who can legally work in the U.S. Mexican Citizens: a NAFTA Professional (TN) visa is required.
When did Mexican immigrants come to America?
Mexican American history, or the history of American residents of Mexican descent, largely begins after the annexation of Northern Mexico in 1848 , when the nearly 80,000 Mexican citizens of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico became U.S. citizens.
What is a bracero in English?
: a Mexican laborer admitted to the U.S. especially for seasonal contract labor in agriculture .
What was a drawback of the US bracero program?
There were a number of negative consequences of the program, some more obvious than others. Farm labor wages stagnated at low levels for decades; braceros became the favored workers of growers , particularly in the West, to the detriment of U.S. workers.
