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Benefits And Side Effects Of The Bracero Program

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The Bracero Program was a bi-lateral agreement to export Mexican laborers to American farms form 1942 to 1964. As the United States fought in World War II, it need a large labor supply to feed its effort so it turned to Mexican Braceros to fill that gap. The photo above is of Mexican Workers on their way to a Bracero Camp. It represents everything the program meant, it was the exploitation of the many for the benefit of the few. Even though its origins were noble, the program quickly became a way for American agribusiness-men (Growers) to exploit and profit. What we find is that although the Bracero Program had the intention of helping both Mexican and American economics it ended up doing massive damage to both. Also the side effects endured …show more content…

At same time many argued that the Bracero Program was good for business and could jumpstart the economy. President Truman, was part of the latter group, in 1950 he created the President’s Commission on Migratory Labor in America Agriculture to see what the real effects of the program were. From the transcripts of an interview between Robert Goodwin a Depart of Labor employee and James R. Fuchs we see that committee found no matter what, the Bracero Program left American workers with lower wages. Despite this however many argued that since the United States was experiencing a labor shortage due to the Korean War, the Bracero Program was needed to maintain the production levels for the conflict. This however was false, growers were using the Korean War as an excuse for their exploitation. To begin with when 248,000 undocumented Mexicans were deported in California, the number of unemployment insurances recipients declined by 15 percent. The only people able to apply for insurances benefits were Americans who have been living in California for at least three years, meaning Braceros were definitely not recipients of these benefits. There was a sizeable unemployed Californian population that growers did not tap into. Why? Again because the Bracero Program produced a consistent flow of cheap and flexible laborers. It was in the grower’s best interests to lay off costly American workers for cheap Mexicans ones. [GO OFF ON

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