BRACERO STORIES

Many comprehensive immigration reform proposals include provisions for a guest worker program. The United States unfortunately has not had the best experiences with ensuring that guest workers’ wage and condition protections are honored. Perhaps the most glaring example is the Bracero Program, which brought temporary workers from Mexico to the United States from WWII to the early 1960s.

The documentary BRACERO STORIES is a bi-lingual video documentary exploring the personal experiences of five former “guest workers” who participated in the Bracero Program. Reminiscences by the “Braceros” are interwoven with archival materials, forming a composite history of the Bracero experience. Though many of their stories detail the hardships encountered in the program, Braceros generally consider the experience a valuable one, and their recollections invariably convey a great sense of dignity. One rarely gets the feeling that they felt like “victims,” but that they were merely doing what had to be done under difficult economic circumstances. This collective portrait also reveals the considerable pride that former Braceros still feel regarding their important contribution to U.S. society. Discussions in the media, past and present, generally represent the opinions of government and corporate policy makers, seldom focusing on the lived experience of the workers. By focusing on the their perspective, the film offers a little-known human story that remains vitally relevant to this day. Juxtaposed with the personal recollections, interviews with other participants in the historic program assess the program’s effectiveness—and its justness, mirroring contemporary concerns about illegal immigration and the possible implementation of a new guest worker program. Ultimately, the film seeks to put a personal face on the concept of foreign “guest worker.”

KJ