After the Mexican Revolution farmers were seeing smaller and smaller bounties from their harvest and agriculture was suffering in Mexico. These farmers needed somewhere to work. Their complaints led Venustiano Carranza to draft a contract, which demanded that U.S. ranchers allow workers to bring their families along during the period of the contract. No worker was allowed to leave for the United States without a contract, signed by an immigration official, which stated the rate of pay, work schedule, place of employment and other similar conditions. This was the first contract created for Mexicans working in the United States.

Image taken from New York Times Bettmann/Corbis

At the behest of U.S. growers, who claimed ongoing labor shortages, the program was extended under a number of acts of congress until 1948. Between 1948 and 1951, the importation of Mexican agricultural laborers continued under negotiated administrative agreements between growers and the Mexican Government. On July 13, 1951, President Truman signed Public Law 78, a two-year program that embodied formalized protections for Mexican laborers. The program was renewed every two years until 1963 when, under heavy criticism, it was extended for a single year with the understanding it would not be renewed. After the formal end of the agricultural program in 1964, there were agreements covering a much smaller number of contracts until 1967, after which no more Braceros were granted entry.

žMany workers never received the 10% taken off of their paycheck, which had been promised to them upon their return to Mexico. Today, it is stipulated that ex-braceros can receive up to $3,500 as compensation for the 10% by supplying check stubs or contracts proving they were part of the program during 1942 to 1948

žYear/            Number of Braceros            Applicable U.S. Law

ž1942            4,203                                        (wartime)

ž1943            (44,600)                                  (wartime)

ž1944            62,170                                      (wartime)

ž1945            (44,600)                                  (wartime)

ž1946            (44,600)                                  Public Law 45

ž1947            (30,000)                                  PL 45, PL 40

ž1948            (30,000)                                 Public Law 893

ž1948-50            (79,000/yr)            AA

ž1951            192,000                                    AA/Public Law 78

ž1952            197,100                                    Public Law 78

ž1953            201,380                                    Public Law 78

ž1954            309,033                                    Public Law 78

ž1955            398,650                                    Public Law 78

ž1956            445,197                                     Public Law 78

ž1957            436,049                                    Public Law 78

ž1958            432,491                                    Public Law 78

ž1959            444,408                                   Public Law 78

ž1960            319,412                                    Public Law 78

ž1961            296,464                                    Public Law 78

ž1962            198,322                                    Public Law 78

ž1963            189,528                                    Public Law 78

ž1964            179,298                                    Public Law 78