Prolegomenon on Solving the Illegal Immigration Problem: The Bracero Program

Yes, prolegomenon is a big word that I have always been impressed with. Basically, it is defined as a preliminary discussion introducing a piece of work that is of considerable length or complexity. So in this post, I won’t discuss how I believe we can resolve the illegal immigration problem, but my desire is to introduce some ideas that will frame the discussion, and then in the next post I will pose what I think to be a reasoned and reasonable solution to solve the immigration problem. To begin, I don’t think many know that the genesis of the current illegal immigration problem began a little over 40 years ago in the late 1960s after the cancellation of the controversial Bracero Program (from the Spanish word brazo, meaning "arm"), which was the the largest guest worker program in our history. The Bracero Program was begun in 1942 in order to address labor shortages in agriculture and railroads during wartime, and was finally retired in 1964 for reasons I will address shortly. The program consisted of farmers and growers in 28 states (notably, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Arkansas) that hired Mexican nationals eager for work during peak harvest and cultivation periods. These Mexican nationals took the harsh jobs that Americans wouldn’t work at wages that Americans weren’t willing to work for. Nonetheless, American farm workers feared worried that bracero workers were competing for their jobs and driving down wages. The sentiment is not so different today.

The bracero program has been called a bittersweet harvest because it is a story of opportunity, but also a story of exploitation. From 1942 to 1964, approximately 2 million Mexican laborers came to the United States to work short-term contracts ranging from a few weeks to eighteen months.  Mexican men suffering through an economic depression in Mexico sought opportunity in the long journey to U.S. fields and railroads.The railroad program ended in 1945, but at the bidding of U.S. growers who claimed to have ongoing shortages in labor, the farm labor program was extended roughly every two years up until 1964.  There was a long process of being selected for the program, which placed significant burdens on hopeful braceros. These men were recruited from rural Mexico, and while the Mexican government did everything it could to protect the braceros and regulate the contracts, there was much bureaucracy and the men were always uncertain if they would be selected for a contract. Growers were looking for experienced and able-bodied workers, while braceros were seeking contracts that offered good pay and decent working conditions. Unfortunately, once a bracero landed a contract, he had little control over his own destiny since he had to rely on the grower for food, medical care, and housing.

Growers tended to see the braceros only as cheap labor, with many braceros enduring poor housing conditions and medical care, pay disputes, and discrimination at the hands of their employers. American farm workers worried that the bracero laborers were taking their jobs and driving down wages, while union leaders worried about their ability to organize farm labor due to the use of foreign workers. So the bracero program was not without its problems and its detractors. Over time, businesses began to see the braceros program as increasing their costs, since the program mandated a certain level of wages, housing, food, and medical services. And though it was hardship, the braceros had a higher standard of living than many had in Mexico. Thus, when worker quotas were met, the unintended consequence was illegal immigration, and the growers were all too happy to exploit illegal workers by paying under the table wages. This eroded pay for the legal workers, and also eroded support for the program since the growers were looking to reduce overhead costs. Illegal workers from Mexico were willing to work for lower wages without medical care or any other support, because it was more attractive than being poor and unemployed in Mexico. Further, labor unions were flexing their muscles since they saw the bracero program as a hindrance to higher wages for domestic farm workers. In 1964, with the rise to prominence of the United Farm Workers, the bracero program was finally cancelled and the bracero workers were sent home.

So what can we learn from the Bracero Program? Even though it was flawed, it demonstrates that we have a model for a potentially  successful guest worker program. Clearly, in the case of the bracero program, growers gave in to the temptation to exploit illegal workers even though they were able to avail themselves of low-cost labor with a legal program. This could only have been possible if the government 1) looked the other way instead of enforcing the wages and benefits negotiated with Mexico, and 2) refused to enforce laws against hiring illegal workers. Everyone lost in this deal except for the growers, because this was the genesis of exploitation of illegal workers that has continued in the U.S. until this day. Indeed, the U.S. government is complicit in the illegal immigrant trade with agribusiness by allowing them to continue to exploit illegal workers with impunity. These people live in the shadows, and the benefits that they should be receiving from their employers under a legal system are passed off on the American taxpayer, causing great expense and unrest throughout the country. On one extreme, we have illegal immigration apologists such as Jorge Ramos screaming for amnesty by threatening a virtual takeover of the U.S. by the growing number of Latinos both legal and illegal, shamelessly making  this a racial issue when it isn’t. On the other extreme, there are people who brand all illegal immigrants as common criminals and perpetrators of evil. Both of these extremes are disgusting, and I don’t believe should be part of the conversation because their views are so self-serving they couldn’t possibly offer any value.

What the U.S. needs to do is to look into its soul and, since it has exhausted every possible bad alternative, do the right thing. The “right thing” means understanding its own role in creating the illegal immigration program with a wink and a nod to illegal immigrants and their employers over the past 40+ years. That is not to absolve illegal immigrants for breaking our nation’s laws to come here, but we have done everything to encourage this behavior. Thus, any solution must reflect our role as well as the illegality of coming here illegally in a fair and balanced manner. Additionally, the illegal immigration problem creates a criminal element through the money to be made through the trafficking of humans across the border. So if we can find a solution to illegal immigration that makes it no longer profitable or reasonable to come here illegally because there are effective legal channels, we can focus our efforts on stopping convicted criminals, those involved in the drug trade, and potential terrorists. In the following post or two, I will outline an approach to solving the immigration problem that examines the best principles of the bracero program coupled with lessons learned from that program as well as those learned as the result of illegal immigration over the past four decades.

References:

National Museum of American History, Bittersweet Harvest: The Bracero Program 1942-1964 Cosecha Amarga Cosecha Dulce: El programa Bracero 1942-1964. On-line. Available from Internet, http://americanhistory.si.edu/exhibitions/small_exhibition.cfm?key=1267&exkey=770&pagekey=773, accessed on 4 August 2010.

Wikipedia, Bracero Program. On-line. Available from Internet, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazo, accessed on 4 August 2010.

Tagged as: Bracero Program