The Dallas Morning News

January 27, 2002

Bracero Timeline
Background: With American men joining the War, the Bracero Program was created to deal
with the shortage of farm workers in the U.S.

May 1942: U.S. labor studies find that in the run-up to WWII and immediately after
Pearl Harbor, 1 million rural workers moved to the military and factory jobs in major U.S.
cities. Farmers alert the U.S. federal government that they face harvest-time disasters if
replacement workers are not brought in.

Aug. 24, 1942: U.S. and Mexico sign an executive agreement to recruit Mexican
temporary workers for U.S. farms, with transportation and other costs to be borne by
the U.S. government. The U.S. promises that braceros will not be mistreated.

Sept. 29, 1942: The first group of Mexican braceros reports for work in Stockton, CA.
Days after a celebratory picnic sponsored by local farmers, the braceros go on strike,
complaining that the pay for harvest work is less than promised. Farmers relent and
raise the pay.

February 1943: Mexico suspends bracero recruiting, citing poor treatment of the 4,200
workers who had ventured north in the fall of 1942. The U.S. promises to improve
conditions for braceros, and a new agreement is signed. In all of 1943, 53,000 braceros
go to U.S. farms.

September 1945: U.S. count shows that 300,000 Mexican men worked as braceros
during World War II. Their total earnings during the war years were $228 million (in
1945 dollars).

September 2, 1945: WWII ends. More than 100,000 braceros were working in the
U.S.

March 1946: U.S. farmers pressure the federal government to continue the agricultural
portion of the bracero program, citing the loss of workers to postwar urban expansion,
and increased food demands at home and around the world. At least 26,214 Mexicans
work on U.S. farms in 1946.

Summer 1959: Mr. Galarza and Cesar Chavez begin advocacy work in California
bracero camps to expose poor living and working conditions. Bracero registry reaches its
peak – 430,000 working in the United States.