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Bracero Program
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<p> </p> <p>The Bracero Program was a <a href="/facts/U.S._Government/VJCxUaf7">U.S. Government</a>-sponsored program that imported <a href="/facts/Mexicans/eM52PHM4">Mexican</a> <a href="/facts/Farmer/Jv8f2VwP">farm</a> and <a href="/facts/Railroad_worker/9nJQbsDV">railroad workers</a> into the <a href="/facts/United_States/P0sCdLe5">United States</a> between the years 1942 and 1964. </p><p>The program, which was designed to fill agriculture shortages during World War II, offered employment contracts to <a href="https://braceroarchive.org/about">4.6 million</a> braceros in 24 U.S. states. It was the largest <a href="/facts/Guest_worker_program/JU4G4wBy">guest worker program</a> in U.S. history. </p><p>The program was the result of a series of laws and diplomatic agreements, initiated on August 4, 1942, when the United States signed the Mexican Farm Labor Agreement with <a href="/facts/Mexico/IT5bwhdh">Mexico</a>. For these <a href="/facts/Farmworker/8P5HteJd">farmworkers</a>, the agreement guaranteed decent living conditions (<a href="/facts/Sanitation/NLGqBs2T">sanitation</a>, adequate shelter, and <a href="/facts/Food/RgNq6NAK">food</a>) and a minimum wage of 30 cents an hour, as well as protections from forced military service, and guaranteed that a part of wages was to be put into a private savings account in Mexico. The program also allowed the importation of contract laborers from Guam as a temporary measure during the early phases of <a href="/facts/World_War_II/2efV5L1U">World War II</a>. </p><p>The agreement was extended with the Migrant Labor Agreement of 1951 (<a href="/facts/Act_of_Congress/CE4cpsgt">Pub. L.</a> <a href="https://uslaw.link/citation/us-law/public/82/78">82–78</a>), enacted as an amendment to the <a href="/facts/Agricultural_Act_of_1949/brK54d5b">Agricultural Act of 1949</a> by the <a href="/facts/United_States_Congress/mJlU46K7">United States Congress</a>, which set the official parameters for the Bracero Program until its termination in 1964. </p><p>In studies published in 2018 and 2023, it was found that the Bracero Program did not have an adverse effect on the wages or employment for American-born farm workers, and that termination of the program had adverse impact on American-born farmers and resulted in increased farm mechanization. </p><p>Since abolition of the Bracero Program, temporary agricultural workers have been admitted with H-2 and <a href="/facts/H-2A_visa/qxDVtFDW">H-2A visas</a>. </p>