History of Mexico

Bracero Program
Braceros arriving in Los Angeles in 1942 ©Image Attribution forthcoming. Image belongs to the respective owner(s).
1942 Aug 4 - 1964

Bracero Program

Texas, USA

The Bracero Program (meaning "manual laborer" or "one who works using his arms") was a series of laws and diplomatic agreements, initiated on August 4, 1942, when the United States signed the Mexican Farm Labor Agreement with Mexico. For these farmworkers, the agreement guaranteed decent living conditions (sanitation, adequate shelter, and food) 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; it also allowed the importation of contract laborers from Guam as a temporary measure during the early phases of World War II. The agreement was extended with the Migrant Labor Agreement of 1951 (Pub. L. 82–78), enacted as an amendment to the Agricultural Act of 1949 by the United States Congress, which set the official parameters for the Bracero Program until its termination in 1964.


HistoryMaps Shop

Shop Now

There are several ways to support the HistoryMaps Project.
Shop Now
Donate
Support Page

What's New

New Features

Timelines
Articles

Fixed/Updated

Herodotus
Today

New HistoryMaps

History of Afghanistan
History of Georgia
History of Azerbaijan
History of Albania