Mexico and the United States Begin the Bracero Program

Mexican workers had crossed into the United States to meet labor shortages before the Second World War, including during the First World War. The Depression brought a sharp reversal: deportation and repatriation campaigns pushed people toward Mexico, including people who held American citizenship. Wartime recruitment began against this recent history of exclusion. [1]

Mexican workers crossed the border under temporary contracts in 1942 as American farms faced wartime labor shortages. Under the agreements that created the Bracero Program, workers were to return to Mexico when their permits expired; recruitment centers, including El Paso, processed men for jobs far from their home communities. Railroad recruitment followed in 1943 under a related arrangement to keep wartime transport moving. [1]

The two governments promised safeguards against discrimination and inadequate wages. Employers nevertheless deducted charges for room and board, withheld pay, and exposed workers to dangerous chemicals, leaving a persistent gap between the contracts and conditions on the job. [1]

Repeated agreements kept temporary Mexican labor central to American farming long after the war. Over twenty-two years, workers supplied that labor and sent earnings home, while many employers failed to honor the promised protections. The agricultural program ended on 31 December 1964, as mechanization spread. [1]

Related Diplomats

1. Francisco Castillo Nájera [2] [1]

Related Reading

• Mexico and the United States