Daughter of a Bracero Program Worker

By Patricia Fernández, Ed.D. (neé Espinoza) November 10, 2024

Director of Student Support Services | Book Author Con Un Sueño en mi Mochila | Title IX Coordinator | Adjunct Faculty | MANA de San Diego Committee Member | CALSA Mentoring Protégé #21

The reason I am here today is because of my parents' and elders' sacrifice, incredible work ethic and perseverance of exploitative working conditions. At nineteen years of age, my father enlisted with the Mexican military, an requirement to be considered for la bracereada. My father, his brothers and other family members left their homeland and journeyed to work temporarily as Bracero program agricultural workers. 

My father often recounted his experience including being inspected, vaccinated, stripped and fumigated with chemicals by the health department - all required of Braceros to enter the United States. The Braceros worked very hard every day in the fields, never complaining and earning very little money, to send home to family in Mexico, Soon thereafter my father became a United States permanent resident. These efforts allowed my father and my generation to make a home in the United States.

The Bracero Program can be divided into three distinct stages: 1942-47, 1947-54, and 1955-64; my father came with the third wave. The first of these was marked by binational cooperation between Mexico and the United States, while the second brought to light contradictions and unintended consequences, and the third consisted of growing opposition, issues with the legal framework of la bracereada and the final unravelling of the program. 

During my father's participation in the Bracero program, his pay was reduced by 10% for a savings fund. These funds were to be deposited into a Fondo del Ahorro Campesino (migrant farmworker fund) savings and were promised upon the Braceros' return to Mexico. My father waited to receive his savings, however, he never received a cent.