The Bracero program started right as the United States entered World War II. The war brought a decline in the agricultural labor force. Since World War I, the United States had relied on imported western hemisphere labor. In the efforts to keep the country functioning, the President of the United States, Franklin Roosevelt, implemented the New Deal. It was a program that was implemented to help the economy. With the start of World War II, the U.S. needed to be in good stead. This meant hiring outside labor to replace the men who had been sent off into battle. Often using what were called “enganchadores,” the United States was able recruit a high amount of imported labor from Mexico to work in the fields. The motivation of high profits and the extension of the bracero were in the best interest for everyone but the Bracero workers.
The recruitment of Braceros wasn’t the first of its kind. Back during World War I, the United States government also imported labor after it had started to restrict the European flow of immigration. “In early 1942 the Roosevelt administration negotiated a binational treaty for the temporary importation of Mexican farmworkers, who became known as braceros.”(Pg. 35, Massey) Just as they had done with the first World War, they United States sent in a team of recruiters that would go into towns in Mexico and convince the Braceros of the wonderful benefits that would come from the participation in this labor program. “Recruiters arrived in towns and villages throughout this region with tales of high wages and untold riches to be had by working in the north.”(Pg. 27, Massey) These recruiters were known as the enganchadores. The literal translation of enganchador was the “hook”. These recruiters would go down to Mexico and did what they could to convince the Mexican laborers that the Bracero program was a great opportunity. “Being paid for each worker they provided, U.S. recruiters sought to obtain as many as possible by any means necessary short of actual enslavement (Durand and Arias 200).”(Pg. 27, Massey) From the recruitment to the use of the Braceros, the goal wasn’t only to relieve the labor shortage in the United States, it was to make a profit. The workers that were told of high wages only received a fraction of what they had hoped for. To add insult to injury, most workers were loaned money by these enganchadores and were told that they could work off their debt in the fields. “The enganchadores typically offered to advance naïve peasants whatever money they needed to travel northward and get a U.S. job.”(Pg. 28, Massey) The wellbeing and financial hardships that Braceros faced were never discussed in the process of obtaining Bracero labor. Once the Braceros arrived in the United States, the braceros were not getting paid what they were promised and the living conditions were as bad. With the low wages, one would expect that the reason for low wages were due to the decline in value per acre of the farmland. “While this percentage dropped in 1940(to 169% of U.S. Average), it thereafter steadily increased, rising 242 percent of the national average by the end of the bracero era ($468.4/acre versus $193/acre).”(Pg. 18, Mitchell) The Braceros’ cheap labor helped boost the value of the farmlands. In return Braceros had minimal compensation for their efforts.
The recruitment of Braceros wasn’t the first of its kind. Back during World War I, the United States government also imported labor after it had started to restrict the European flow of immigration. “In early 1942 the Roosevelt administration negotiated a binational treaty for the temporary importation of Mexican farmworkers, who became known as braceros.”(Pg. 35, Massey) Just as they had done with the first World War, they United States sent in a team of recruiters that would go into towns in Mexico and convince the Braceros of the wonderful benefits that would come from the participation in this labor program. “Recruiters arrived in towns and villages throughout this region with tales of high wages and untold riches to be had by working in the north.”(Pg. 27, Massey) These recruiters were known as the enganchadores. The literal translation of enganchador was the “hook”. These recruiters would go down to Mexico and did what they could to convince the Mexican laborers that the Bracero program was a great opportunity. “Being paid for each worker they provided, U.S. recruiters sought to obtain as many as possible by any means necessary short of actual enslavement (Durand and Arias 200).”(Pg. 27, Massey) From the recruitment to the use of the Braceros, the goal wasn’t only to relieve the labor shortage in the United States, it was to make a profit. The workers that were told of high wages only received a fraction of what they had hoped for. To add insult to injury, most workers were loaned money by these enganchadores and were told that they could work off their debt in the fields. “The enganchadores typically offered to advance naïve peasants whatever money they needed to travel northward and get a U.S. job.”(Pg. 28, Massey) The wellbeing and financial hardships that Braceros faced were never discussed in the process of obtaining Bracero labor. Once the Braceros arrived in the United States, the braceros were not getting paid what they were promised and the living conditions were as bad. With the low wages, one would expect that the reason for low wages were due to the decline in value per acre of the farmland. “While this percentage dropped in 1940(to 169% of U.S. Average), it thereafter steadily increased, rising 242 percent of the national average by the end of the bracero era ($468.4/acre versus $193/acre).”(Pg. 18, Mitchell) The Braceros’ cheap labor helped boost the value of the farmlands. In return Braceros had minimal compensation for their efforts.
The political moves behind the extension came from pressure the farmers put on the politicians. “Although originally envisioned as a temporary wartime measure, the booming postwar economy perpetuated growers’ fears of a labor shortage, and under considerable pressure from the Texas and California delegations, Congress extended the bracero program on a year-to-year basis through the late 1940s.”(Pg. 36, Massey) This extension allowed the farmers to use and import more braceros then previously possible. The increase use of the cheap labor received from Braceros increased the drive of the farmers. The farmers advocated for an extension to the program that would ultimately result in more profits for their business. “…the Bracero Program was further institutionalized in the form of Public Law 78 and remained in effect for more than a decade after.”(Pg. 1, Robinson) Public Law 78 ultimately helped extend a program that was only meant to be around for a few years into a program that lasted for 22 years. The living conditions and pay were not taken into account when making the decisions to extend the program. Blinded by the sight of profits, the farmers pushed for an increase in imported labor and demanded extensions to keep their farm profits at an all time high. During the time of the extensions, the domestic workers in the United States were not very pleased with the labor that was being used. “Speaking before the Southwest Conference at Occidental College, Dr. Julian Samora said Public Law 78, which provides for the importation of Mexican national farmhands, furnished “unfair competition for domestic laborers.”(Los Angeles Times, April 7, 1963) Braceros were viewed in a negative way in the public’s eyes. They were seen as unwanted guests taking the jobs of United States citizens. No matter what the policies were the public were fighting the farmers and the farmers fought the regulations set on them. These political moves on behalf of the famers and the public left the Braceros in middle of the fight. The Braceros were put in situation where they were not going to advance to what they were previously told by the enganchadores. Eventually, things turned sour with the start of “Operation Wetback.” “ In 1954 the INS launched a well-publicized two-pronged attack known as “Operation Wetback”(Calavita 1992) that brilliantly managed to satisfy all sides, putting the INS simultaneously in good stead with the growers, the public, nativists, and members of Congress.”(Pg. 37, Massey) In efforts to keep the peace, Operation Wetback sought out to round up as many illegal Mexican laborers as they cold possibly find. At one point they had apprehended about one million undocumented Braceros. The program would go to farms and apprehend any bracero that doesn’t have the right paperwork and then send them back through the border. Once they were at the U.S. Mexico border, they would process them and have them fill out the appropriate paper work to obtain visas for them to work. After all the paper work was done and the Bracero was legally a bracero, they shipped them back to the same farms that they were apprehended at. Operation Wetback seemed like the method used to put tags on cattle except that instead of cattle, human beings were picked up, labeled, and sent to their prospective farms. This dehumanizing operation proved that the political actions taken during the Bracero program where in the best interest of everyone but the Braceros themselves.
The use of politics didn’t work in favor of the Braceros. The main point of the passing Public Law 78 was to allow farmers to have access to the cheap labor for much longer. The push from the behalf of the farmers who abused this program resulted in the extension. Those who opposed the program didn’t oppose it for the sake of defending the Braceros but rather to protest that domestic workers were being displaced by immigrant labor. The United State’s solution to the growing concerns and demands of the public was to initiate “Operation Wetback.” This program not only kept the farmers pleased by providing labor but also kept the public pleased by making the workers have a work visa. The choice to implement “Operation Wetback” pleased everyone but the Braceros. Although they had work visas and more were able to migrate to the north, the Braceros still remained in the same poor living conditions and faced the same low wages that they had before. The political measures taken to deal with problems of the Bracero program were in efforts to benefit and please the farmers and the general public while the Braceros were not in any better conditions than before the program.
The use of politics didn’t work in favor of the Braceros. The main point of the passing Public Law 78 was to allow farmers to have access to the cheap labor for much longer. The push from the behalf of the farmers who abused this program resulted in the extension. Those who opposed the program didn’t oppose it for the sake of defending the Braceros but rather to protest that domestic workers were being displaced by immigrant labor. The United State’s solution to the growing concerns and demands of the public was to initiate “Operation Wetback.” This program not only kept the farmers pleased by providing labor but also kept the public pleased by making the workers have a work visa. The choice to implement “Operation Wetback” pleased everyone but the Braceros. Although they had work visas and more were able to migrate to the north, the Braceros still remained in the same poor living conditions and faced the same low wages that they had before. The political measures taken to deal with problems of the Bracero program were in efforts to benefit and please the farmers and the general public while the Braceros were not in any better conditions than before the program.