The Bracero Program

               At the start of 1942, the United States faced labor shortages directly caused by World War 2. To combat the dwindling number of workers, the United States made agreements with the Mexican government where thousands of contracted laborers were allowed to enter the US and take jobs agriculturally on farms, or domestically like on railroads. These agreements would become known as the Bracero Program (the name derives from the Spanish word "brazo" meaning arm) and loosely translate to "one who works using his arms" or "farm laborer".  

             Specifically, the agreement allowed “native-born residents of North America, South America, and Central America, and the islands adjacent thereto, [to] desire to perform agricultural labor in the United States.” In the textbook, it talks about how this program was initially designed as a temporary response but ended up lasting another 22 years extended by the Migrant Labor Agreement in 1951. With more than 4.5 million Mexicans entering the US under government labor contracts, mainly working on farms in Texas California and the Northwest, they were guaranteed a decent living condition, a wage of 30 cents per hour, and protection from forced military services.

           Considered one of the largest contract labor programs in U.S. history, many at the time saw the Mexican workers as unskilled. They weren't able to form labor unions to secure better working conditions, weren't guaranteed citizenship and could be deported at any time.  They were considered cheap easy labor just as support for the Americans, and many states like Texas were purposely racists, violating some of the rules under the Bracero Program.

However, the new program gave the Mexican people opportunities. Touching the lives of men, women, families, and communities, the new second-generation were starting to show up in ethnic neighborhoods and serve in the army with white people, unlike the black. A new type of culture showed up called the "Chicano, a fusion of Mexican heritage and American experience" which spoke against the racism they received.

Even with political and social problems, and mistreatments between the new Mexican workers and American people, the Mexican workers were able to gain more than what they could in Mexico. They could get a new fresh start, or better support themselves or their families. The Bracero Program not only supported the Americans with production problems but with the Mexican people.

https://www.thoughtco.com/the-bracero-program-4175798

https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/27336

https://immigrationtounitedstates.org/389-bracero-program.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bracero_program