The Mexican braceros who saved Northwest agriculture during World War II

The United States’ entry into World War II presented a challenge to American farmers. On the one hand, demand for agricultural products skyrocketed. On the other hand, a dire labor shortage emerged, as tens of thousands of American farm workers joined the military and others headed from rural areas to bigger cities in search of wartime industry jobs.

So, the governments of the United States and Mexico made an agreement: the creation of a program to bring Mexican workers to the U.S. on temporary labor contracts to help farms, as well as railroad companies, across the country.

Officially called the “Emergency Farm Labor Supply Program,” it became known as the Bracero Program. Around 15,000 Mexican workers came to Oregon as braceros while the program lasted here, from 1943 to 1947.

Braceros often endured labor abuses, workplace injuries, and anti-Mexican racism. They also saved American agriculture during the war and built Mexican American communities in the Northwest for years to come. This week, we learn about the history of the Bracero Program in Oregon and throughout the Pacific Northwest.

To learn more, watch OPB’s 2007 “Oregon Experience” documentary, “The Braceros.”

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