Utah Guest Workers

Many Utah Guest Worker proponents would have us think that illegal immigration this is a new problem and they have a NEW solution, one that will certainly work.   plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

Braceros: History, Compensation

Excerpts - (but the entire article should be read!):

 

During the 1920s, when European immigration was being restricted, there were calls to restrict the Mexican immigration as well. California farmers made three major arguments in favor of continued Mexican immigration: "normal" workers shunned seasonal farm jobs; farmers could not raise wages because they were price takers in national and international markets; and Mexicans were "homing pigeons" who would not stay in the United States and create social problems.

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In the spring of 1942, California farmers predicted that there would be labor shortages for the fall harvest, and they called for the importation of between 40,000 and 100,000 Mexican farm workers.

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Between 1942 and 1964, some 4.6 million Mexicans were admitted to do farm work. Many Mexicans returned year after year, but the one to two million who participated gained US work experience, and some decided to continue migrating illegally after the program ended. The Bracero program was small during the war years; admissions peaked at 62,000 in 1944, meaning that less than two percent of the four million US hired workers were Braceros.

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The wartime Bracero program ended on December 31, 1947. Farmers were still allowed to recruit Braceros through official channels, but illegal Mexican workers were also available.

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Illegal Mexican farm workers found on US farms were legalized in a process that official US government publications called "drying out the wetbacks," which involved taking them to the Mexico-US border, issuing them documents, and returning the now legal Braceros to the farm on which they were found.

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In 1949, for example, about 20,000 Mexicans received contracts from US employers to cross the border as guest workers, and over 87,000 arrived illegally in the United States and then had their status legalized.

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However, growers had the upper hand in Congress, which in 1951 approved PL-78, the Mexican Farm Labor Program.

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One argument for Braceros was that allowing Mexicans to come legally as guest workers would reduce the number of illegal "wetbacks."

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The Coastal Growers Association in Ventura county, for example, reduced its employment of lemon harvesters from 8,517 in 1965 to 1,292 in 1978 while increasing average hourly earnings from $1.77 to $5.63. With fewer workers employed for more hours, average annual earnings rose from $267 (for 151 hours) to $3,430 (609 hours).

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About 10 percent of the wages earned by Braceros between 1942 and 1949 were withheld by US farmers and sent by US banks to Mexican banks. These forced savings often disappeared, and the Mexican government said it had no record of what happened to these forced savings.

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Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. George Santayana