The Bracero Program

The Mexican migrant worker has been the foundation for the development of the rich American agricultural industry, and the El Paso-Ciudad Juárez border region has played a key role in this historic movement. One of the most significant contributions to the growth of the agricultural economy was the creation of the Bracero Program in which more than 4 million Mexican farm laborers came to work the fields of this nation. The braceros converted the agricultural fields of America into the most productive on the planet.
Mexican peasants were hard-working, highly skilled agricultural laborers. Yet, despite the fact that two million peasants lost their lives in the Mexican Revolution of 1910, the government failed to provide them the resources needed to improve their lives. By the late 1930s, when the crop fields began yielding insufficient harvest and employment became scarce, the peasant was forced to look for other means of survival.
The occurrence of this grave situation coincided with the emergence of a demand in manual labor in the U.S. brought about by World War II. On August 4, 1942, the U.S. and the Mexican government instituted the Bracero program. Thousands of impoverished Mexicans abandoned their rural communities and headed north to work as braceros.
The majority of the braceros were experienced farm laborers who came from places such as "la Comarca Lagunera," Coahuila, and other important agricultural regions of México. They stopped working their land and growing food for their families with the illusion that they would be able to earn a vast amount of money on the other side of the border.
Huge numbers of bracero candidates arrived by train to the northern border. Their arrival altered the social environment and economy of many border towns. Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, across from El Paso, Texas, became a historic recruitment site and substantial gathering point for the agricultural labor force.
The following note illustrates the movement:
The bracero contracts were controlled by independent farmers associations and the "Farm Bureau." The contracts were in English and the braceros would sign them without understanding their full rights and the conditions of employment. When the contracts expired, the braceros were required to turn in their permits and return to México. The braceros could return to their native lands in case of an emergency, only with written permission from their boss.
The braceros labored tirelessly thinning sugar beets, picking cucumbers and tomatoes, and weeding and picking cotton. The braceros, a very experienced farm labor, became the foundation for the development of North American agriculture.
Despite their enormous contribution to the American economy, the braceros suffered harassment and oppression from extremist groups and racist authorities.
By the 60's, an excess of "illegal" agricultural workers along with the introduction of the mechanical cotton harvester, destroyed the practicality and attractiveness of the bracero program. The program under which more than three million Mexicans entered the U.S. to labor in the agricultural fields ended in 1964. The U.S. Department of Labor officer in charge of the program, Lee G. Williams, had described it as a system of "legalized slavery."

The following corrido is called "El mojado" or "The Wetback". This corrido tells the story of an immigrant who narrowly escaped deportation. Many of the braceros experienced harassment such as this afer their contracts were up and they were being forced back to Mexico. The picture below shows some braceros at work in the feilds.

El Mojado

Yo soy mojado y nadie sabe
Que por el rio yo me pasé
Y disfrazado siempre he vivido
Y de los guardias me cuidaré

Les aseguro cuanto he sufrido
Cuando yo vine a esta nación
¡Ay! de los sustos que yo he vivido
Cuando me encuentra la imigración

Me preguntaron por pasaporte
Y yo les dije yo soy de aquí
Luego me piden fe de bautismo
Y yo les dije que la perdí

‘Subete al carro' me dijo el jefe
Y yo de pronto lo obedecí
Pues yo temblaba como un paraguas
De la sorpresa que recibí

Luego me dicen ‘Vete a tu casa’
Y yo corriendo sin dirección
Al dar la vuelta en contra esquina
Venía otro carro de imigración

Pues me miraron de arriba a bajo
No se fijaron bien en mi
Y yo volteaba disimulado
Que no vinieran detrás de mi

Muy asustado llegué a mi casa
A platicarle a mi mujer
De aquel detalle que había pasado
Ya no podía ni hacer quehacer

Esas [boletos] son abusados
Te dan trabajo y te dan placer
Te dan dinero y te emborrachan
Si [luen] que tienes buena mujer

Pues si me dicen ‘Saca el registro’
Les aseguro que sí lo haré
Les hago un cuatro brincando el charco
Y a mi terruño regresaré

Porque en mi patria vivo pensando
Y se los digo con emoción
Son muy sagrados mis tres colores
Viva mi patria y mi [paveleón]

The Wetback

I’m a wetback and no one knows
that I came by the river
and I’ve always lived in disguise
and I’ll be cautious of the guards.

I assure you of how much I’ve suffered
when I came to this nation
Oh! The scares I’ve lived
when I run into the immigration.

They asked me for a passport
and I told them I’m from here
then they ask for my baptism certificate
and I told them I lost it.

‘Get in the car’ the boss told me
and I quickly obeyed
because I trembled like an umbrella
from the surprise I received.

Then they tell me ‘Go to your house’
and I ran without direction
turning around at the opposite corner
another immigration car was coming.

Well, they looked me up and down
they didn’t look at me closely
and I turned slyly
that they were not coming after me.

I arrived home frightened
to tell my wife
of what had happened
she couldn’t do the housework anymore.

Those tickets are abused
they give you work and they give you pleasure
they give you money and they get you drunk
if they know that you have a good woman.

Well if they tell me ‘Take out your registration’
I assure you all that I will do it
I make them jump the puddle
and to my land I will return

Because of my homeland I live thinking
and I tell you with emotion
my three colors are very sacred
live my homeland and my flag.

Back to top

Back to home page

El Bracero Fracasado

Cuando yo salí del rancho
No llevaba ni calzones
Pero así llegué a Tijuana
De puritos aventones.

Como no traía dinero
Me parraba en las esquinas
Para ver a quien gorreaba
Los pesquesos de gallina.

Yo quería cruzar la linea
Pero ni una americana
Yo quería ganar dinero
Porque esa era mi tirada.

Como no traía papeles
Mucho menos pasaporte
Me aventé cruzando cerros
Yo solita y sin coyote.

Después verán como me fue
Llegué a Santana
Con las patas bien peladas
Los huaraches que llevaba.

Se acabaron de volada
El sombrero y la camisa
Los perdí en la correteada
Que me dieron unos güerros.

Que ya mero me alcanzaban
Me salí a la carretera
Muerto de hambre y desvelado
Me subí en un tren carguero.

Que venía de Colorado
Y con rumbo a San Francisco
De un vagón me fui colgado
Pero con tan mala suerte.

Que en Salinas me agarraron
Después verán como me fue
Llegó la migra
De las manos me amarrarón.

Me decían no se que cosa
En inglés me regañaron
Me dijeron los gabachos
Te regresas a tu rancho’.

Pero yo sentí muy gacho regresar a mi terruño
El bracero fracasado sin dinero y sin mi lacho.

The Failed Laborer

When I left the ranch
I didn’t even take underwear
but I arrived in Tijuana like that
by pure rides.

As I didn’t have any money
I stood on the corners
to see who I could ??
the chicken necks.

I wanted to cross the border
but not an American one
I wanted to earn money
because that was my lot.

As I didn’t have papers
much less a passport
I went for crossing the hills
by myself and without a coyote.

Then you all will see how it went
I arrived in Santana
with my feet very peeled
the shoes I had on.

They wore out quickly
my hat and my shirt
were lost in a chase
that some white men gave.

That they almost reached me
I went out to the road
hungry and tired
I climbed aboard a cargo train.

That was coming from Colorado
and going to San Francisco
from a wagon I hung on
but with such bad luck.

In Salinas they caught me
then you all will see how it went
the immigration arrived
they handcuffed me.

They said I don’t know what things
In English they scolded me
The white men told me
‘You go back to your ranch’.

But I felt awful returning to my land
The failed bracero without money and without my ??

Back to top

Back to home page

The last corrido is "El Patero del Año". This corrido tell sthe story of an immigrant who got arrested for smuggling. This is comical because he was then named "The Smuggler of the Year" when he was just helping a larger group of smugglers.The photo below is that of a desert patrol car. Cars like this often patrolled for smugglers and illegal immigration.

El Patero Del Año
performed by Los Penguinos Del Norte

El 24 de junio
del año 1979
me agarraron prisionero
a mi familia conmueve.

Otro día por la mañana
me sacaron a juzgar
me pusieron abogado
sin haber necesidad .

Eran cinco mojaditos
del estado de Durango
a la pinta fui a parar
nomás por darles la mano.

Cruzaron el Río Bravo
que parecía un demonio
exponiendo hasta sus vidas
por llegar a San Antonio.

Al fin ya quedé fichado
como el patero del a˜o
no me les pude rajar
yo también soy mexicano.

Cásarez es mi apellido
hay que darle vuelta al mundo
si quieren saber quien soy
llevo por nombre Raymundo.

Ya me despido señores
de estas dos lindas fronteras
esto pasó en Eagle Pass
vecino de Piedras Negras.

The Smuggler of the Year

The 24th of June
of the year 1979
they took me prisoner,
it really shook up my family.

The next day in the morning
they hauled me into court
they gave me a lawyer
it wasn’t really necessary.

Because of five “wetbacks”
from the state of Durango
I ended up in prison
for giving them a helping hand.

They crossed the Rio Grande
that seemed as wild as the devil
risking their lives
to get to San Antonio.

Because of I was labeled
as the “Smuggler of the year”
but I couldn’t let them down
I, too, am Mexican.

Casarez is my family name
let the whole world know it
if they want to know who I am
my first name is Raymundo.

Now I bid farewell gentlemen,
from these not so pretty borderlands,
all this took place in Eagle Pass,
just across from Piedras Negras

Back to top

Back to home