1 / 18

Bracero Program 1942

Bracero Program 1942. Mexicans can work in the U.S. with short term contracts 17,000 in L.A. 1942. Bracero Program 1942.

winton
Download Presentation

Bracero Program 1942

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Bracero Program 1942 • Mexicans can work in the U.S. with short term contracts • 17,000 in L.A. 1942

  2. Bracero Program 1942 • A prime requirement for the bracero to be considered for employment in the United States is that he must have farming background. An immigration inspector examines this applicant's hands for callouses as proof of his experience as a farmer.

  3. Workers in Mexico City hoping to be contracted to work in the US, 1942

  4. RECRUITMENT CENTERS

  5. RECRUITMENT CENTERS

  6. RECRUITMENT CENTERS DDT not just used on crops…

  7. Braceros received an Alien Laborer's Permit and signed a contract, usually for 9-12 months, at the end of which they had to turn in their permits and return to Mexico.

  8. Bracero Program: Documentation Although the bracero treaty called for contracts to be written in Spanish, often they were in English, and the braceros did not understand what they were agreeing to.

  9. Employers Underpayment was the most common complaint…often employers made braceros sign blank receipts and paid them far less than the agreed-upon wage.

  10. But what were the conditions like for the workers?

  11. Idaho potato picker, 1950s

  12. California, 1947

  13. New Mexico chile harvest, 1950s

  14. Was it all bad? 2 Testimonials

  15. Response to Bracero Program • Many Americans became angered by the influx of Mexican migration (whether it was legal or illegal) • There was a backlash and the government was pressured to respond to the public’s anger. • The government launched operation wetback in 1954. Operation wetback was meant to cut down on illegal immigration. More than 1 million Mexicans (legal and ”illegal”) were deported within the first year.

  16. 1954: “OPERATION WETBACK” • According to [INS Commissioner] Swing, the “alarming, ever-increasing, flood tide” of undocumented migrants from Mexico constituted “an actual invasion of the United States.” Operation Wetback commenced in June 1954 with a “direct attack…upon the hordes of aliens facing us across the border…Planes were used to locate wetbacks and to direct ground teams working in jeeps…to discourage re-entry, many of those apprehended were moved far into the interior of Mexico by train and ship.” Mae Ngai, Impossible Subjects (2004):155-156

  17. Homework • Write an opinion article about the Bracero Program. • Be sure to include: • Background information on the Bracero Program. • What were the positives and negatives of the program? • What is your opinion about the program? • Why do you support or stand against the program? • Must be two paragraphs and turned in as a JUNO DOC under the assignment “Bracero Opinion Article”

More Related