Éxodo laboral de mexicanos en el entorno del Programa Bracero. Migración legal de trabajadores, su resistencia, coerción a ilegales y deportación (1942-1954)

Abstract

This article presents a historical reconstruction of Mexican labor migration as a result of the Bracero Program from 1942 to 1954. In particular, is analyzed the procedures implemented in the selection of braceros, so that they traveled to agricultural farms and urban work centers in Texas, California, New Mexico, Chicago, and New York. In addition, it is shown cases of corruption in Mexico in the granting of green cards of residence; protests by Mexican workers; the working conditions the braceros faced, and the type of food and housing they had where they were housed. It is described the forms that illegal migration took of the so-called espaldas mojadas (wetbacks), the mistreatment and discrimination experienced by the braceros, as well as the way in which the return of hired workers intensified, and the massive deportation of the so-called sin papeles (illegals) who managed to work in a concealed way in the neighboring country.