Bracero Agreement

(1942-1964)

Thursday, January 01, 1942

Due to a labor shortage during World War II, under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the United States negotiated the Bracero Program with the Mexican government to recruit male Mexican workers to work in the United States on short-term contracts in U.S. agriculture and war industries. Workers experienced harsh conditions which resulted in many Mexican immigrant workers seeking “illegal” work outside of the program. The Bracero Program lasted for 22 years, ending in 1964.