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Bracero Program Essay

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The treatment of the undocumented workers was extremely poor. Many farm directors broke the program’s contract when it came to the basic necessities that were promised to the braceros. For example, free hygienic housing was suppose to be provided for the workers but many of them live in “chicken coops, markets, dilapidated bunkhouses, tents, barns, stables and shacks without running water, sewers, toilets, or any facilities for bathing” (Mandeel, pg. 176). In regards to meals, the agreement was very clear in proclaiming that $1.75 would be removed from the Bracero’s pay but the maximum deduction that the owner was allowed to remove was $3.00 (Mize, pg. 19). The workers had the option of providing their own mean or paying but, multiple working …show more content…

Multiple components of the agreements were breached but not many of the braceros spoke out due to the fear of their jobs being given to someone else. With both legal and illegal migrant workers infiltrating in the United States, gave agriculturalist the opportunity to exploit and abuse The Bracero Program and its workers. In 1951, “President Truman’s Commision on Migratory Labor reported that employer abuses and lax enforcement produced deplorable working and living conditions for the braceros; that the INS had effectively abdicated its border control responsibility.” (Calavita, pg. 1901). Nothing was officially done to ensure that contracts were not broken instead, The Bracero Program continued to expand as Korean War began to rise but there were revisions. For example, Public Law 78 was passed in 1951 by Congress. This law officially extended The Bracero Program until 1964 which allowed more than 2 million workers to have official contracts. Furthermore, it also faintly recommended that the agriculturalist have to make a modest effort at luring in legal braceros before hiring illegal braceros (Chang, pg.

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