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Welcome back to the takeaway. I'm Melissa Harris-P Perry. The summer of 1942 was the U.S.

first summer since entering World War II, and with so many young men fighting abroad or working

in domestic factories to supply needs for the war, the country faced a critical shortage of

agricultural laborers. It was in this context that President

Franklin Roosevelt issued an executive order establishing the Mexican Farm Labor Agreement. Or, as it came to

be known, the term most commonly used is Braceros. In Spanish, this means a man who works with his arms and hands.

This is narration from a 1962 film produced by the Council of California Growers.

Now, the Bracero program was a joint accord between the governments of Mexico and the United States.

It provided temporary work permits to millions of Mexican men who were allowed to work legally in the U.S., then return home to Mexico.

In theory, the agreement eased the agricultural labor shortage for U.S. growers and offered access to higher wages for Mexican laborers.

But 20 years after it was first established, the Brissero program had become a target for

nativist concerns about immigration and economic competition, as the 1962 Council of California

Grower film illuminates.

A typical dialogue pinpoints the major issues.

Well, with Americans on relief roles, why bring in foreigners to work on our farms? Makes no sense.

Makes sense to the farmer, though. These braceros work for lower pay than Americans would.

The Bracero program officially expired in 1964.

But the legacy of migratory farm workers from Mexico and Central America

and the exploitation of that labor continues to shape our contemporary agriculture economy.

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