The Bracero Program will forever be a scare in United States history. As stated previously the Bracero Program began as a justified measure to fix the problem of a labor shortage caused by the drafting and sending off of the United States working class to go fight the European and Pacific theaters in World War II. Even though it may have begun as a well-intentioned solution, after the war had ended and troops flooded back home the program remained and actually expanded. There was no reason to keep the program going, because the work force it replaced had returned. Nonetheless Congress continued to extend the program with some apoptosis measures in places, which were designed end the program at a certain time; however, every time this day arose Congress would pass a new Public Law that allowed the continuation of the program. Who would have known all of the negative effects that this program would have on the members who participated and those left behind as family participated.
The participants of the Bracero Program were dehumanized and treated like cattle from the beginning of the program all the way until they left. In the beginning the were sprayed with DDT, corralled into trucks and buildings, every aspect of their life was observed, and forced to endure humiliating exams where they were forced to strip down and be examined like livestock for sale. In the end, most braceros never recovered the 10 percent of their salaries that had been promised to them by the Mexican and American governments (Uranga). Investigations have shown the United States placed the money in the accounts of the Mexican government’s program and almost immediately disappeared. This was thought to be the cause of the corruption of high ranking officials in the Mexican government. The money has yet to be recovered and most braceros have yet to been paid the ten percent of their salary they had been promised. Even with all the exploitation occurring in the United States some, likely few, members of the Bracero Program said they had a good experience; however, most were forced to experience injustices like unfair pay check deductions, low wages, poor sanitary conditions, and the most damaging injustice the forced use el cortito based off false claims and lies. Not only were these workers being exploited in the United States, but they were also being exploited by their own government who was supposed to be the ones protecting them. The best part of this program was the day it officially ended. “To this day neither the US nor the Mexican government has ever acknowledged the emotional, financial, and physical toll of the program on Bracero families” (Rosas).
The participants of the Bracero Program were dehumanized and treated like cattle from the beginning of the program all the way until they left. In the beginning the were sprayed with DDT, corralled into trucks and buildings, every aspect of their life was observed, and forced to endure humiliating exams where they were forced to strip down and be examined like livestock for sale. In the end, most braceros never recovered the 10 percent of their salaries that had been promised to them by the Mexican and American governments (Uranga). Investigations have shown the United States placed the money in the accounts of the Mexican government’s program and almost immediately disappeared. This was thought to be the cause of the corruption of high ranking officials in the Mexican government. The money has yet to be recovered and most braceros have yet to been paid the ten percent of their salary they had been promised. Even with all the exploitation occurring in the United States some, likely few, members of the Bracero Program said they had a good experience; however, most were forced to experience injustices like unfair pay check deductions, low wages, poor sanitary conditions, and the most damaging injustice the forced use el cortito based off false claims and lies. Not only were these workers being exploited in the United States, but they were also being exploited by their own government who was supposed to be the ones protecting them. The best part of this program was the day it officially ended. “To this day neither the US nor the Mexican government has ever acknowledged the emotional, financial, and physical toll of the program on Bracero families” (Rosas).
References
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Bickerton, Maria Elena. “Prospects for a Bilateral Immigration Agreement with Mexico: Lessons from the Bracero Program.” Texas Law Review 79.4 (2001): 895-919. ProQuest. Web. 4 Dec. 2014.
“Bracero Program.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Oct. 2014. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.
“BY THE NUMBERS: THE US MILITARY.” The National WWII Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2014.
De Genova, Nicholas. "The Legal Production of Mexican/Migrant "Illegality"." Latino Studies 2.2 (2004): 160-85. ProQuest. Web. 10 Dec. 2014.
“DDT.” EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, 18 Apr. 2001. Web. 08 Dec. 2014.
Ferriss, Susan, Ricardo Sandoval, and Diana Hembree. “The Death of the Short-Handled Hoe.” The Fight in the Fields: Cesar Chavez and the Farmworkers Movement. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1997. N. pag. Print.Gómez, Laura E.. Manifest Destinies : The Making of the Mexican American Race. New York, NY, USA: New York University Press (NYU Press), 2007. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 16 December 2014.
Gutierrez, Ramon A. “Hispanic Diaspora and Chicano Identity in the United States.” The South Atlantic Quarterly 98.1 (1999): 203-15. ProQuest. Web. 1 Dec. 2014.
Hernandez, Kelly Lytle. Migra!: A History of the U.S. Border Patrol. Berkeley, CA, USA: University of California Press, 2010. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 16 December 2014.
Hollander, Gail M. “‘Subject to Control’: Shifting Geographies of Race and Labour in US Sugar Agroindustry, 1930-1950.” Cultural Geographies 13.2 (2006): 266-92. ProQuest. Web. 5 Dec. 2014.
Kang, Shulamith Deborah. “The Legal Construction of the Borderlands: The INS, Immigration Law, and Immigrant Rights on the United States-Mexico Border, 1917--1954.” Order No. 3210639 University of California, Berkeley, 2005. Ann Arbor: ProQuest. Web. 6 Dec. 2014.
Kirstein, Peter N. Anglo over Bracero: A History of the Mexican Worker in the United States from Roosevelt to Nixon. San Francisco: R and E Research Associates, 1977. 66. Print.
Koestler, Fred L. “BRACERO PROGRAM.” Texas State Historical Association. Handbook of Texas Online, 12 June 2010. Web. 15 Nov. 2014.
Menchaca, Celeste. “Crossing the Line: A History of Medical Inspection at the Border.” KCET. N.p., 24 June 2014. Web. 17 Dec. 2014.
Molina, Natalia. “‘In a Race All Their Own’: The Quest to Make Mexicans Ineligible for U.S. Citizenship.” Pacific Historical Review 79.2 (2010): 167-201. University of California Press. Web. 27 Aug. 2014.
Mossman, B.C. “Chapter 24: Peace Becomes Cold War, 1945-1950.” AMERICAN MILITARY HISTORY. WASHINGTON, DC: CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY, 1989. 531-32. Chapter 24: Peace Becomes Cold War, 1945-1950. US Army Center of Military History, 27 Apr. 2001. Web. 29 Nov. 2014.
Mulcahy, Joanne B. “The Root and the Flower.” Journal of American Folklore 118.467 (2005): 45-53. ProQuest. Web. 10 Dec. 2014.
Nelson, Lise. “FARMWORKER HOUSING AND SPACES OF BELONGING IN WOODBURN, OREGON.” Geographical Review 97.4 (2007): 520-41. ProQuest. Web. 10 Dec. 2014.
Uranga, Rachel. “ROOTED IN THE PAST EXHIBIT EXPLORES NATION’S BRACERO PROGRAM.” Daily News: 0. May 15 2006. ProQuest. Web. 2 Dec. 2014 .
Rosas, Ana Elizabeth. Abrazando El Espíritu: Bracero Families Confront the US-Mexico Border. Oakland: U of California, 2014. Kindle Edition.
Ruiz, Stevie. “Bracero Program.” San Diego State University, La Mesa. 19 Nov. 2014. Lecture.
Smithsonian, The Bracero Archives. “Bittersweet Harvest: The Bracero Program 1942-1964 Exhibit Will Start February 15 at the Putnam Museum.” Hola America. Feb 13 2014. ProQuest. Web. 3 Dec. 2014.
“Active Duty Military Personnel, 1940–2011.” Infoplease. Pearson Education, n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2014.
Bickerton, Maria Elena. “Prospects for a Bilateral Immigration Agreement with Mexico: Lessons from the Bracero Program.” Texas Law Review 79.4 (2001): 895-919. ProQuest. Web. 4 Dec. 2014.
“Bracero Program.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Oct. 2014. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.
“BY THE NUMBERS: THE US MILITARY.” The National WWII Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2014.
De Genova, Nicholas. "The Legal Production of Mexican/Migrant "Illegality"." Latino Studies 2.2 (2004): 160-85. ProQuest. Web. 10 Dec. 2014.
“DDT.” EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, 18 Apr. 2001. Web. 08 Dec. 2014.
Ferriss, Susan, Ricardo Sandoval, and Diana Hembree. “The Death of the Short-Handled Hoe.” The Fight in the Fields: Cesar Chavez and the Farmworkers Movement. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1997. N. pag. Print.Gómez, Laura E.. Manifest Destinies : The Making of the Mexican American Race. New York, NY, USA: New York University Press (NYU Press), 2007. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 16 December 2014.
Gutierrez, Ramon A. “Hispanic Diaspora and Chicano Identity in the United States.” The South Atlantic Quarterly 98.1 (1999): 203-15. ProQuest. Web. 1 Dec. 2014.
Hernandez, Kelly Lytle. Migra!: A History of the U.S. Border Patrol. Berkeley, CA, USA: University of California Press, 2010. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 16 December 2014.
Hollander, Gail M. “‘Subject to Control’: Shifting Geographies of Race and Labour in US Sugar Agroindustry, 1930-1950.” Cultural Geographies 13.2 (2006): 266-92. ProQuest. Web. 5 Dec. 2014.
Kang, Shulamith Deborah. “The Legal Construction of the Borderlands: The INS, Immigration Law, and Immigrant Rights on the United States-Mexico Border, 1917--1954.” Order No. 3210639 University of California, Berkeley, 2005. Ann Arbor: ProQuest. Web. 6 Dec. 2014.
Kirstein, Peter N. Anglo over Bracero: A History of the Mexican Worker in the United States from Roosevelt to Nixon. San Francisco: R and E Research Associates, 1977. 66. Print.
Koestler, Fred L. “BRACERO PROGRAM.” Texas State Historical Association. Handbook of Texas Online, 12 June 2010. Web. 15 Nov. 2014.
Menchaca, Celeste. “Crossing the Line: A History of Medical Inspection at the Border.” KCET. N.p., 24 June 2014. Web. 17 Dec. 2014.
Molina, Natalia. “‘In a Race All Their Own’: The Quest to Make Mexicans Ineligible for U.S. Citizenship.” Pacific Historical Review 79.2 (2010): 167-201. University of California Press. Web. 27 Aug. 2014.
Mossman, B.C. “Chapter 24: Peace Becomes Cold War, 1945-1950.” AMERICAN MILITARY HISTORY. WASHINGTON, DC: CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY, 1989. 531-32. Chapter 24: Peace Becomes Cold War, 1945-1950. US Army Center of Military History, 27 Apr. 2001. Web. 29 Nov. 2014.
Mulcahy, Joanne B. “The Root and the Flower.” Journal of American Folklore 118.467 (2005): 45-53. ProQuest. Web. 10 Dec. 2014.
Nelson, Lise. “FARMWORKER HOUSING AND SPACES OF BELONGING IN WOODBURN, OREGON.” Geographical Review 97.4 (2007): 520-41. ProQuest. Web. 10 Dec. 2014.
Uranga, Rachel. “ROOTED IN THE PAST EXHIBIT EXPLORES NATION’S BRACERO PROGRAM.” Daily News: 0. May 15 2006. ProQuest. Web. 2 Dec. 2014 .
Rosas, Ana Elizabeth. Abrazando El Espíritu: Bracero Families Confront the US-Mexico Border. Oakland: U of California, 2014. Kindle Edition.
Ruiz, Stevie. “Bracero Program.” San Diego State University, La Mesa. 19 Nov. 2014. Lecture.
Smithsonian, The Bracero Archives. “Bittersweet Harvest: The Bracero Program 1942-1964 Exhibit Will Start February 15 at the Putnam Museum.” Hola America. Feb 13 2014. ProQuest. Web. 3 Dec. 2014.