The Bracero Program

World War II created critical labor shortages in all industries, but particularly so for agriculture. Farm workers were called to serve in the armed forces just as demand for food for the war effort was at its highest. The few remaining laborers who didn’t go to war went off to better paying jobs on the coast, building boats and airplanes.

Farmers exhausted all local sources of laborers. Colleges and universities revised their school calendars in order to free students for agriculture work.  P.O.W.s, school children, even residents from the state mental institutions were hired to fill the labor gap, but it wasn’t enough.

Finally,in 1942 the United States and Mexico entered into a labor agreement that came to be known as The Bracero Program. The Bracero Program grew out of a series of bi-lateral agreements between Mexico and the United States that allowed  Mexican men to come to the United States to work on short-term, primarily agricultural labor contracts. From 1942 to 1964, 4.6 million contracts were signed, with many individuals returning several times on different contracts.

On April 26, 1943 the Yakima Daily Republic reported that the first contingent of braceros plus a separate group of seasonal migratory workers arrived by train in Yakima. 

Initially, braceros travelled to Washington State by bus or train. For a short time after the war years, California and Washington transported braceros by air, then used trucks or buses for the last leg of the trip.   

 El Programa Bracero

Segunda Guerra Mundial produjo una escasez de mano de obra en todos los sectores críticos, pero particularmente para la agricultura. Los trabajadores agrícolas fueron llamados a servir en las fuerzas armadas al igual que la demanda de alimentos para el esfuerzo de guerra estaba en lo más alto.

En 1942 los Estados Unidos y México firmaron un acuerdo laboral que llegó a ser conocido como el Programa Bracero.

A los agricultores a agotar todas las fuentes locales de trabajadores antes de que pudieran solicitar Braceros. Los colegios y universidades revisaron sus calendarios escolares con el fin de estudiantes libres para el trabajo agrícola. P.O.W.s, los escolares, incluso los residentes de las instituciones mentales estatales fueron contratados para llenar el espacio de trabajo, pero no fue suficiente.

El 26 de abril 1943, la República de Yakima Daily informó que el primer contingente de braceros además de un grupo separado de los trabajadores migratorios estacionales llegaron en tren en Yakima.

Inicialmente, los braceros viajaron al estado de Washington en autobús o tren. Por un corto tiempo después de los años de guerra, California y Washington transportados por vía aérea braceros, a continuación, utilizan camiones o autobuses para la última etapa del viaje.

Bracero recruits had to pass a strict screening process that included personal health, past employment and basic skills. Those who passed were offered a labor contract that stipulated wages, living conditions and length of service. This letter is written from a young man to his mother, telling her he is fine, that he got a contract and is on his way north.

Shown here is a Bracero contract with several pay stubs. The Bracero contract had safeguards to protect both Mexican and domestic workers. The worker was guaranteed payment of at least the prevailing area wage received by native workers; employment for three-fourths of the contract period; adequate, sanitary, and free housing; decent meals at reasonable prices; occupational insurance at employer's expense; and free transportation back to Mexico at the end of the contract. Employers were supposed to hire braceros only in areas of certified domestic labor shortage, and were not to use them as strikebreakers. 

On April 26, 1943 the Yakima Daily Republic reported that the first contingent of braceros plus a separate group of seasonal migratory workers arrived by train in Yakima.

Bracero Living Conditions

Migrant children too young to work in the fields were expected to care for their younger siblings while older family members worked.

Bracero contracts stipulated living accommodations better than those in this undated photograph from the Relander Collection, though details in the photograph suggest it is from the late 1940’s. The numbered tents and army surplus material used to extend the tent place the picture in a labor camp located outside Wapato at the close of WWII.

Se espera que los niños migrantes que son demasiado pequeños para trabajar en los campos de cuidar a sus hermanos más pequeños mientras que los miembros mayores de la familia trabajaron.

Los contratos de braceros estipulados en el cual vivir mejor que los que están en esta fotografía sin fecha de la colección Relander, aunque los detalles en la fotografía sugieren que es a partir de finales de 1940. El material de tiendas de campaña y el ejército excedente de numeración utilizado para ampliar la imagen del lugar tienda de campaña en un campo de trabajo situado fuera de Wapato al final de la Segunda Guerra Mundial.

When the Bracero program began in 1943 farm workers were recruited in Mexico, traveled by truck or bus to a processing center at the border, then traveled by train to labor camps in the Pacific Northwest. The trip took 7 days.

During the war years the federal governments of the United States and Mexico shared the costs of transporting Braceros to the Pacific Northwest. After the war those costs were passed on to the employers. In 1948 round-trip travel expenses were $162.95 per worker, which is the same as $2,165.27 in today's dollars.

The bracero workers were highly valued by the growers, but transportation costs were making imported labor too expensive. For a short time Washington State growers used converted army transport planes to fly workers from the processing centers on the border to a distribution center in Seattle. 

Latinos in the Armed Services

Many Latinos served at the front during WWII. They were among the first U.S. soldiers who saw combat in the war. Before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the United States wanted to build up  defenses in the Philippines. Two of the units sent came from the New Mexico National Guard, which contained a heavy representation of both Hispanic officers and enlisted men. In part, these men were selected for their Spanish-speaking abilities because many in the Philippines still spoke Spanish.

Latino Americans take great pride in their long history of service to our country in the United States Armed Forces. The Chavez family has commemorated the contributions of their family members with this wreath of stars. The  tradition of focusing upon military service as a means of furthering a more just society for all endures because it is founded on an essential truth about Latinos in the military: as immigrants and as citizens, Latinos have served the U.S. in the military proudly for generations and continue to do so today.

Los latinoamericanos se enorgullecen de su larga historia de servicio a nuestro país en las Fuerzas Armadas de Estados Unidos. La familia Chávez ha conmemorado la contribución de sus miembros de la familia con esta corona de estrellas. La tradición de centrarse en el servicio militar como un medio de promover una sociedad más justa para todos perdura porque se basa en una verdad esencial sobre los latinos en las fuerzas armadas: como inmigrantes y como ciudadanos, los latinos han servido los EE.UU. en el ejército orgullo para las generaciones y continuará haciéndolo en la actualidad.

Young, Ronald. "Latinos, World War I and World War II." Americans at War. Ed. John P. Resch. Vol. 3: 1901-1945. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. 94-96. U.S. History in Context. Web. 24 Aug. 2016.