ipl-logo

The Bracero Program: An Exploitation Of Mexican-American Labor

888 Words4 Pages

The Bracero Program was a guest worker program implemented by the United States between 1942 and 1964 that brought millions of Mexican laborers to work in agriculture, railroads, and other industries. The program's main goal was to fill labor shortages in the United States during World War II and to support the U.S. economy after the war. However, perspectives are split on whether the Bracero Program was an opportunity for Mexican-American laborers or an exploitation of their sacrifices and hardworking nature. The Bracero program was an exploitation of Mexican-American laborers due to several aspects, mainly being the wages they were paid, the labor/working conditions they were subjected to, and the housing conditions they lived in.

The Bracero …show more content…

Evidence from the book Harvest of Empire by Juan Gonzalez shows that workers were forced to live in substandard conditions, such as crowded barracks, with limited access to medical care. A Bracero History Project interviewee indicated that the support system for Braceros wasn’t given enough attention to be functional, and workers who voiced their concerns at the consulate hardly ever saw repercussions. Additionally, workers were often subject to discrimination and racism, with some being denied access to public spaces or services. As mentioned before, the program was an exploitation of Mexican-American laborers in the fact that workers were required to live in poverty-level conditions despite their unconditional hard …show more content…

The program's aspects of wages, labor conditions, and living conditions were designed to put laborers at a disadvantage. Mexican laborers were paid below the minimum wage, subject to long work hours and hazardous working conditions, and forced to live in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions. While some Mexican laborers were able to improve their lives through the program, an overwhelming majority were not. It is important to learn about the Bracero Program because it precedes several immigrant labor civil rights movements in the United States, which continue to this

Show More
Related

  • Comparing Farragher's 18 And The Bitter Cry Of The Children

    760 Words  | 4 Pages

    It also mentions the problem of child laborers working so that their families wouldn’t starve. The job market was so unstable that parents were forced to send their kids to work for some semblance of job security. John Spargo’s “The Bitter Cry of the

    Read More

  • Maquiladoras Research Paper

    589 Words  | 3 Pages

    Not only that but women were discriminated and abused, physically and emotionally. In conclusion, maquiladoras have had a negative impact on Mexico’s economy and the workers. Some of these results which may even be seen today.

    Read More

  • The Bracero Program Summary

    507 Words  | 3 Pages

    The income they receive is not enough to support their families. The Braceros (Mexican arm workers) work in agriculture field for the white man. Over the years the Braceros are granted temporary visas to

    Read More

  • Bracero Program Pros And Cons

    699 Words  | 3 Pages

    Adding to the difficulties faced by braceros who attempted to engage in the program and come to work in the U.S. legally, there was the problem of illegal immigration and the fact that the INS, at least tacitly, encouraged Mexicans to illegally cross the border into the U.S. Illegal workers were often “legalized” if they happened to be detained by the border patrol, especially if it was during a peak season for American farmers. (cite, 140) At some points during the program, depending on the state in question, the number of illegal workers actually outnumbered legal braceros. (cite, 141) This certainly served to make the plight of the braceros an even more unsavory one. As Mexicans flooded across the border in ever-increasing numbers, the advantage

    Read More

  • A Synopsis Of 'The Most They Ever Had'

    1157 Words  | 5 Pages

    Essentially, the health of the workers was more important than the little pay they earned but unfortunately, not a great deal of worker realized

    Read More

  • Mexico Vs Canada Research Paper

    826 Words  | 4 Pages

    Illegal aliens began crossing the border in the 1920’s to fill the need for cheap labor, and later the Bracero program brought more foreign workers in the United States, who were expected to only temporarily live in and work in the United States. However, after the program ended, many of the workers involved in the Bracero program with only temporary status, staying in the United States as illegal workers. This eventually led to President Eisenhower’s “Operation Wetback,” which resulted in tens of thousands of illegal aliens being caught and deported. “Operation Wetback” restored the American labor market, resulting in a drop of illegal immigration of nearly 95% by the end of the 1950’s. Nonetheless, the 1965 Immigration Act abolished the national origins quota system, resulting in a wave of illegals due to chain migration.

    Read More

  • Bracero Program Research Paper

    687 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although relatives were in the United States and earning money that did not mean that everything on “the other side” was going well, many family members were earning money, yet they were not sending/earning enough to provide for those who had stayed behind in Mexico. In order to have a better life children began to work and push themselves as much as needed in order to prove to others that they were exemplary and without equal. Many children entered the United States with hopes to find their relatives and work; however, the children were soon “captured” by the Works Progress Administration and “the organization argued that much more should be done to place these children in agricultural labor camps because they had demonstrated a remarkable ability to exceed employer expectations without making any demands” (189). The decision made by the Works Progress Administration had a negative effect, many children started to get exploited by middle-class individuals, children had to work without complaining but most importantly they were seen as “cheerful and illegal” (190). Children were seen as cheerful when in reality they were having a hard time coping with the situation; however, the children portrayed cheerfulness in order to seem exceptional while

    Read More

  • Social Workers And Mexicans-Americans In Chicago

    185 Words  | 1 Pages

    There are several ways that social workers, settlement houses, or activism organizations help Mexican immigrants and Mexicans- Americans in Chicago. Chicago's economy was based on the railroad, steel, sugar beet, and meatpacking industries. Workers were needed to replace employees on strike or men fighting overseas during World War I. Business leaders sent representatives to the Southwest to hire Mexican immigrants and transport them north. These recruiters, paid for the new workers' railroad fees and meals on the trip to Chicago but their first paychecks would be docked a percentage until the money was compensated. Social workers continued to help Mexicans by not only giving them jobs but from keeping them for being deported back.

    Read More

  • The Impact Of The Cesar Chavez Bracero Program

    872 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Bracero program was a huge lift up for the U.S and Mexico economy, but it was also full of injustices and exploitation for man who was on this program. Man who was working by the Bracero program had horrible working conditions and the process to get selected was totally inhuman, as Gilbert Gonzalez highlights on the article Guest Worker or Colonized Land “The men were stripped and told to enter an empty chamber resembling a large shower; here they were dusted with lindane, intended to rid them of body lice. Of all the measures that men had to undergo, this spraying was considered the most unpleasant, possibly because they were dusted without mask and forced to breathe the poisonous mist” (Gonzalez p.76). This quote highlights the welcome that the U.S gave to this men who came to the U.S to work their lands to better their economy and, this is how they receive them. This is exploitation to a specific group who is basically been treated as if they were animals and not humans.

    Read More

  • What Are The Effects Of Ww1 On African American Life

    405 Words  | 2 Pages

    Some of the conditions were low pays, no safe at all to work in, over crowed in factories, working days were long. Some people work 10 to 12 hours a day. There was no job security, no workman’s companion , no retirement fund.

    Read More

  • Farming Of Bones Quotes

    1521 Words  | 7 Pages

    Title Throughout the 1930s, the demand for cheap labor in the Dominican Republic led to the emergence of migrant workers from Haiti. The integration of the Haitians in society was not welcome however because many of the Dominicans saw them as different and feared that they would change the identity of their nation. Edwidge Danticat’s The Farming of Bones brings light into some of the discrimination that the Haitians faced when they were employed in the Dominican Republic. The treatment towards these workers was initially rather mild, but as time went on, the Dominicans started to exhibit their prejudice against the people through brutal acts of violence.

    Read More

  • Immigration Reform: Where Does Change Come From?

    958 Words  | 4 Pages

    Once these laws take effect, immigrant right groups then look at these laws from all angles and challenge anything they deem violating. Prior to the civil rights movement in which Immigration reform was enacted. Mexican immigrants were allowed to migrate into the U.S through the Bracero Program in 1942. The Bracero program was a pact between the U.S and Mexico where a controlled number of Mexican migrants were

    Read More

  • How Did Industrialization Change American Society

    677 Words  | 3 Pages

    These workers faced dangers everyday and received little pay. At the same time, many other people also had more money and leisure time. Henry George’s book, Progress and Poverty, talks about this divide. “ It was as though an immense wedge were being forced, not underneath society, but through society. Those who are above the point of separation are elevated, but those who are below are crushed down” (Document 3).

    Read More

  • Mexican Americans During Ww2 Essay

    1229 Words  | 5 Pages

    Many of them faced a lot of challenges throughout the time. Mexican-Americans faced discrimination and racism throughout the event of the war. They faced a lot of hate in their jobs, school and in the army. This discrimination was often institutionalized and supported by laws and policies. A lot of them faced a language barrier since many of them were not fluent in English, which made it difficult for them to have any type of access in the education, jobs, and many other things.

    Read More

  • Essay On Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

    1576 Words  | 7 Pages

    As a result, from 1860 to 1900 alone, the number of urban areas in the United States expanded fivefold (Source 2). The immigrants who desperately needed employment and the greed of factory owners made the rise of sweat shops astonishing. Around the country low-paid immigrants, including women and children, worked for excessively long

    Read More

More about The Bracero Program: An Exploitation Of Mexican-American Labor

Open Document