The Bracero Program: Race, Mexican Modernity, and Workers’ Resistance

The Bracero Program began on August 4, 1942 when the United States and Mexico signed the Mexican Farm Labor Agreement. During this time, there was a shortage of agricultural workers in the United States because of World War II. Thus began the largest guest worker program in U.S. history. While it is easy to regard the Bracero Program as a history of exploitation, bracero testimonies demonstrate that workers found ways to navigate and resist a system that sought to create a docile exploitable workforce knowing very well that protest carried the threat of deportation.

Presentation deriving from a special studies with Jennifer Guglielmo, associate professor of history.