...The Braceros Program and the immigration process Immigration plays a big role in the world’s economy and the United States is one of the top countries in relation to the immigrants traffic, both incoming and outgoing. Nowadays, the American government has come up with a large number of strict laws in order to control such transit and prevent undocumented entries, but it has not always been like this. In fact, during World War II and the years beyond that, the American government was in need of immigrants in order to get the economy going and to provide enough labor for the demand. Mexico was a neighbor country with lower wages, therefore an easier task for the government to deal with. The solution was to make a series of laws and political bilateral agreements with Mexico to import workers. But the Mexican Government was expected to lay down certain conditions for its approval of the American plan. Unregulated hiring of its citizens for employment abroad had been prohibited by Article 123 of the Constitution of 1917, which provided that such employment must be validated by local municipal authorities and by the employer’s consular representative, and on the basis of a formal contract, since American government had kicked out over 50,000 immigrants to Mexico due to the great depression. The demands for Mexican farm workers that were rejected by the United States Department of Agriculture and the Department of Justice in 1941 were happily established in the spring of the subsequent...
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...agricultural economy was the creation of the Bracero Program in which more than 4 million Mexican farm laborers came to work the fields of this nation. The braceros converted the agricultural fields of America into the most productive in the planet. The Bracero Program was a corporative international program through which the United States imported large number of Mexicans workers (mostly farmworkers). This program came about because of farm labor shortages caused by American entry into World War 11. The men were recruited to work primarily in agriculture, although during World War II braceros also supplied railroad labor. The majority of the braceros were experienced farm labors from important agricultural regions of Mexico. Huge numbers of bracero candidates arrived by train to the northern border. Their arrival altered the social environment and economy of many border towns. The program brought Mexican workers to replace American workers dislocated by the war. The program was intended to be temporary, but because of dependence of American farms on Mexican labor it kept going for nearly two decades after the war. The braceros contracts were controlled by independent associations and the Farm Bureau. The contracts were in English and the braceros would sign them without understanding theor full rights and the conditions of employment. When the contracts expired, the braceros were required to turn in their permits and return to México. The braceros could return to their native lands...
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...requested the help of Mexican immigrants to fill the labor shortage but were denied in 1941 until the attack on pearl harbor and the U.S quickly changed its mind and that gave way to The Bracero Program. For the next 22 years five million “braceros” were contracted to growers and ranchers in 24 states. This turned out to be the largest program of its kind in U.s history. Bracero comes from the Spanish word brazo meaning arm which can be loosely translated...
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...Why did the Bracero Program make it difficult to organize farmworkers into a union? The Bracero Program made it difficult to organize farmworkers into a union because the plant owners were too strong and in power. They felt inferior because the Americans plant owners were the ones paying them. And felt that they didn't had the same rights to fight for their believes. The plant owners were treated them with harm instead of treating them as human being. When the war came to an end the mexicans needed to immigrate to a different plantation of the need of money, either way it was difficult to stand for what they believed in. . How did Cesar Chavez differ from many of the Latino community leader that came before him? How did his leadership help...
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...In Viva La Causa, Migrant worker went on strike to have better environment to work in and also they boycott the grapes to change the law. In The Circuit, Migrant worker have their children go to work in the field and also go to school to get an education to support their family. Going to school was the only way to help get their family a better life. In the Bracero program, Braceros come here as a guest to work in the United State to get a little better paid than Mexico and also here to get a better life. Powerless people can change their fate if they took a stand to fight for their rights and freedom and by getting a...
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...Mexican Americans in the 1940s suffered discrimination from Anglo-Americans due to the Bracero Program and Zoot suit culture. Mexican Americans in the 1940s were viewed negatively because of the Mexican Nationals that emigrated to the U.S. starting in 1942 due to the Bracero program and as a result, took most agricultural jobs away from Americans. Zoot suit culture gave Mexicans-Americans youth a bad impression that Mexicans wasted fabrics from their oversized suits and did not care to ration in support for those serving in the World War 2. The freedoms of becoming equal for the Mexican Americans were limited in the 1940s due to Mexicans coming into the United States from the Bracero Program and Zoot Suit culture. Mexicans limited the chances...
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...Santiago de Velasquez was suffering poorly from the aftermath of the Great Depression. My grandfather had many mouths to feed and his farm was not selling enough produce to sustain his family. My grandfather left his family for America to participate as a Bracero worker. During the Second World War America faced a male worker shortage. The Bracero Program grew out of a series of bi-lateral agreements between Mexico and the United States that allowed millions of 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, making it the largest U.S. contract labor program and which offered citizenship to Mexican workers if they would come and work in American factories, steel mills, and railroads. The Bracero Program was created by executive order in 1942 because many growers argued that World War II would bring labor shortages to low-paying agricultural jobs. On August 4, 1942 the United States concluded a temporary intergovernmental agreement for the use of Mexican agricultural labor on United States, and the influx of legal temporary Mexican workers. The Bracero Program was controversial in its time. Mexican nationals, desperate for work, were willing to...
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...increased demand for the military officers. The move opened ways for the Chicanos; they left their traditional economic activities and were employed in the army and the industries that had been closed up to them previously. Due to labor shortage experienced, it caused the US to turn to Mexico; there was a great need for laborers who would work for the Americans. This was the cause for the formulation of the bracero program. On august 4 1942, the US and Mexicans instituted a bracero program. The bracero program is believed to have the development of rich American agricultural industry. More than four million Mexican laborers came to work in the field of this nation. The bracero converted the American agricultural fields into the most productive in America. These farmers were experienced and very hardworking despite two million of them dying during the Mexican revolution of 1910. There was great demand for laborers in the US due to the Second World War. They left their farming activity having in mind they would make more money through the braceros program than producing for subsistence in their homes. They arrived in America by train in huge numbers, this created great increase in the number of...
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...The notion of spaces and exchanges refers to the societies around the world. They can be understood from the dual perspectives of cohesion and openness both of which encourage us to think further about these societies’ position in the world. Space can evoke the re-appropriation of spaces (manifest destiny) while the word exchange refers to the borrowings between cultures, languages, but also the exchange of all kinds of goods between nations. The immigration is linked to this notion as it implies the motion of legal and illegal people to other countries. We will focus on the journey of immigrants to the US by showing the pros and cons of these trips. To what extent has the immigration always been a major issue in the US economically and demographically speaking but has also contributed in its construction ? I. The Immigration, a word known by the Americans since the discovery of the US Throughout US history, immigration has been the main source of an increase in its population. Most of the now-native Americans are the descendants of immigrants who came centuries ago. The US receives more immigrants than the combined total of the rest of the world. Many decades ago, because immigrants were needed as a means for obtaining labor, development, and achieving growth as a nation, the US borders became lenient (indulgent). There was a general trend of people immigrating from south (Mexico) to north (America), for many reasons including better jobs, wages, educations, and escape...
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...Labyrinth of Solitude by Octavio Paz reveals a lot about the Mexican person and its character, manners and thinking. Much of what he proclaims in his book resonates with many of those who call themselves Mexicans. I, as a proud Mexican-American agree with Octavio’s idea of what the Mexican is, wherever he or she may be in North America. The Pachuco in Octavio’s account resonates closely with me because as someone who grew up in a developing neighborhood in a major city, I witnessed many fellow Mexicans rebelled in order to be different - as a way to identify as someone other than an American or a Mexican. Indeed, I saw with my very own eyes my closest friend become radically different. He became a different person and our relationship diminished....
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...EL RINCON DEL MUNDO The small town of Guadalupe has Spanish history, as does most of the southwest region of the USA. Most of Guadalupe’s jobs center around agriculture. “El Rincon del mundo” which is what the region was thought of, literally mean the edge of the world in English. The name of Guadalupe is derived from either “La virgen de Guadalupe” or “Rancho de Guadalupe”. THE SKINNY BEAR Oso Flaco or (skinny bear) is a salt water lake near Guadalupe, gets it’s name from a story of a Spanish adventurer who kills a bear then eats its meat not knowing that the bear had been poisoned by the local Native Americans. The teens of Guadalupe organize a youth group called “Thee Group B”. “The Group B” has it’s own house band called “Soul Explosion” which eventually changes it’s name to “Congress”. Soul Explosion and Thee Group B have bonfires and party at the outskirts of town. THE DUNE THAT NEVER MOVES In 1923 The Ten Commandments a silent movie by Cecil B. DeMille is shot at the southern end of Guadalupe. A gigantic set is created for the film, complete with 20-ton pharaoh statues and a “City of Pharaohs”. After completion of the film the set is bulldozed with sand giving it term “The Dune that never moves”. To big city folk like those whom make movies there, Guadalupe and her surrounding area looks very different from what they are used to, from it’s farmland, to the fact that in the whole town there is not a single traffic light, to it’s cities building’s...
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...Illegal Mexican Immigrants and Their Life in California There are many negative stereotypes of illegal Mexican immigrants. Many Americans don’t like the idea that illegal immigrants don’t pay many forms of taxes. Because of their undocumented legal status, we don’t have much information about their background. Their presence in the society creates uncertainty. They are seen as a factor of social instability. Many Americans also blame them for the taking over jobs. However, the reality is that California is becoming more and more dependent on its illegal Mexican immigrant population. These illegal immigrants from Mexico are a reliable source of low cost labor for California. They take the low paid, seasonal, menial and physically demanding jobs that the U.S. citizens are not willing to take. They stabilize the economy of California by keeping the labor cost low, thus keeping a lid on the inflation rate. They contribute to the government by paying sales tax directly and income tax at least indirectly. They are not here to enjoy benefits, as they are not eligible for most public assistance. The vast majority of them are here in California for work and better life. They are peaceful being and they work very hard to earn their place. The reality shows that illegal Mexican immigrants bring substantial positive impacts to California not only economically but also culturally. The huge number of illegal Mexican workers shows us their ethic of hard work and the importance of love for...
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...Last quarter I took a Chicano history pro-seminar class where the main pursuit was a pro-seminar essay. My pro-seminar paper was on the study of the Bracero Program, a contract worker loan between Mexico and the United States. One of the contract requirements of Braceros was they had to be sterilized of any lice before they could enter the United States. Braceros were doused with copious amounts of DDT as a part of the sterilizing process. The process would not have been as bad had it been a spray or been localized to the scalp, instead of dousing the entire body. Luckily, my grandfather did not exhibit any of the long-term effects of DDT, though he may have hidden his symptoms to not appear weak. Many other braceros though were not as lucky as they came down with many adverse health defects due to the dousing of DDT that affected them for decades to come. The Bracero Program's policy was before Rachel Carson conducted her work on DDT, so the effects may not have been as well-known. However, this does not detract from how it was proven at a later date DDT was in fact harmful, perhaps these braceros helped her prove it...
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...In his book, Harvest of Empire, Juan Gonzalez describes this feeling of being split in two, a feeling of not belonging here nor there due to the treatment of Mexican-Americans by white America. “They are both native-born and immigrants, pioneers and aliens, patriots and rebels; no matter how far back you trace their ancestry on our soil, they are still battling to emerge from the obscure margins of official US history, still clamoring to be fully recognized and understood” (Gonzalez 97). Still. Still fighting to be American, to be accepted as Americans by Americans. Still. Some of us didn’t even ask to be here. As Eva Longoria says, “We didn’t cross the border. The border crossed us.” “Manifest Destiny” is what the Americans called it....
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...led to this form of circular migration where Mexican immigrants were brought over during WW I when we needed labor and then deported during the Great Depression followed by importation during WW II when the U.S. required more workers due to another labor shortage. This led to institutional involvement from the U.S. Department of State, Labor, and Justice, which formed the Braceros Program. This allowed for the temporary importation of contract laborers from Mexico to the U.S. I believe that of all these forces, the importation and deportation of cheap and ‘unskilled’ labor played the biggest role in creating and shaping Mexican migration to the United States. What we see with this trend of importing and deporting Mexicans is that the U.S. brings in and removes Mexican immigrants when they are no longer beneficial. This seems to be the primary theme in which Mexican migration was built upon. Mexicans were viewed as cheap and unskilled labor brought in to work in the factories and fields, which can be considered to be undesirable jobs. This is evident with the Barcero Program, which recruited 178,000 Braceros from 1942-1945 and significantly increased the contracts it extended to over 5 million from 1945-1965. In a sense this mirrors the views in which many people see Mexican immigrants today. I believe that this is where the stereotypical misconception...
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