Bracero Selection Process facts for kids

Bracero workers were selected through a multi-phase process, which required passing a series of selection procedures at Mexican and U.S. processing centers. The selection of bracero workers was a key aspect of the bracero program between the United States and Mexico, which began in 1942 and formally concluded in 1964. During this time, at least 4.8 million bracero workers entered into official labor agreements with U.S. contractors.

Stages of selection

Local selection

The first phase of selection for bracero workers took place at a local level in Mexico, which involved gathering required documentation for local officials. In addition to identifying documents, such as birth certificates, potential bracero workers had to obtain recommendations that would attest to their reliability and moral quality. Men would typically ask for recommendations from high-status local residents, such a politicians, clergy, or business owners. While the Mexican government's publications asserted that required documentation was available free of charge, many aspiring workers had to pay local officials to gather the necessary paperwork and to be considered for selection.

After several weeks of document collection, potential workers would congregate in a designated location, where the mayor and other prominent citizens would go through each man's documentation and determine who could continue to the next phase of selection. If a person passed this local level of selection, their name would be placed on an official roster. These potential workers, along with the list, would travel to regional migratory stations.

Regional migratory stations in Mexico

People who sought to enter the bracero program would travel to large cities in Mexico, where regional migratory stations comprised the second phase of selection. These processing centers were typically housed in stadiums or other large venues. Hundreds, sometimes thousands, of men would wait outside to hear their name called, sometimes for extended periods of time. Officials monitored the people waiting outdoors, and some carried weapons, such as a rubber truncheon. Local vendors, many of them women and children, sold concessions outside the processing centers, men would typical go broke during their waits.

After a man heard his name called, he would enter the migratory station. In some stations, such as the Francisco Zarco Stadium in Durango City, a potential worker would walk through lines of armed soldiers on both sides when he entered. Then the applicant would proceed to an interview with local officials. Officials checked to see if the person had agricultural skills and would look at a potential laborer's hands to see if they were callused, as a sign of their work in fields. Mexican women would type up information on bracero applicants at many migratory stations.

Potential braceros would undergo physical examinations, where officials would assess physical fitness and ability. At some migratory stations, prospective braceros would receive a medical evaluation including a smallpox vaccination, while others would receive their vaccination later on at a U.S. Reception Center. If a person passed this phase, they would be fingerprinted and sent to the Department of Photography. Pictures would be taken for processing records and for an applicant's crucial identification card, called a mica. A mica offered documentation that the Mexican government had approved an individual for the program.

In popular culture

The Visalia Opera Company, from a rural area in California, premiered a mariachi opera titled El Bracero in 2014. The opera traces the story of a bracero worker, Noe Prado, and his family and includes a scene on bracero processing. Rosalinda Verde created the opera, infusing knowledge from her grandfather's experience as a bracero worker.