In the photo:
Elderly worker during a protest to speed up the distribution of compensation funds and pension payments from the mexican goverment for those who worked on the United States on the 'bracero' program between 1942 and 1964 on January 29, 2013 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Miguel Tovar/LatinContent/Getty Images) |
Since the start of the economic developments of the U.S. related to the beginning of the twentieth century, every influx of Mexican migrant workers was “sustained by powerful political and economic interests in the U.S” (Healey 2014, p.289). Mexicans were allowed to migrate to the U.S. whenever there has been a need for low-skilled workers, especially in the agricultural and factory sectors.
During the times of economic recession or depression in this country, when labor competition with domestic workers increased, Mexican workers have been unwanted and thus various policies and other actions were set in place in order to exclude them and remove them out of the country. The interest and attitudes of the dominant group toward these immigrants were reflected in various contradictory policies. Over the time, these policies created a pool of easily exploitable workers who lacked the rights and opportunities of the dominant group NAFTA uprooted nearly 2 million Mexican peasants and sent them across the U.S. border to escape an economic disaster. In the U.S, they experience various forms of exploitation, but also stigmatization due to the large numbers of undocumented workers among this population. They are labeled as "illegal aliens" despite being economic refugees. |
"Bracero or guest worker program is fundamentally a labor importation program that demonstrates systemic corruption in the way it functions" (Gonzalez 2013, ix). |