The Exploitation of Immigrant Workers
As we have seen in the contested border films presented in class the exploitation and mistreatment of immigrant workers, especially undocumented workers, has been an issue since the start of the Bracero Program in the early 1940’s. While this has been a serious issue for the past seventy-five years, it has once again become a very important issue in the past year with recent changes in immigration policy.
Bracero Program
The Bracero Program was initiated in 1942 with the signing of the Mexican Farm Labor Agreement and lasted until 1964. The program provided standardized living and working conditions and a minimum rate of pay for laborers. For US agriculture the program provided much needed manual labor during World War II. The following PBS documentary does a great job expanding on the history of the Bracero Program.
http://www.pbs.org/video/oregon-experience-the-braceros/
Despite the protections that the Bracero Program was intended to provide, immigrant workers were often still exploited and faced human rights violations. The program instituted a minimum wage for workers in the program, but employers would find ways to cheat workers out of wages such as taking room and board out of their wages. Braceros also often faced inhumane living conditions and unsafe working conditions. One violation that I feel exemplifies the attitude of employers toward braceros is the implementation of the “short hoe”. Many employers forced workers to use hoes with the idea that these short hoes made workers more careful. However, workers hated the short hoe since it was back breaking work that would leave workers crippled. The short hoe came to be a symbol of bracero exploitation and the dehumanization of immigrant workers.
Exploitation Today
While the Bracero program has been dead for decades, immigrant workers still play an important role in the US economy and many still face exploitation. Current exploitation of immigrant workers often centers around documentation status of workers. Undocumented workers are often exploited and have little ability to fight for their rights. Due to their documentation status and the discussion of deportation by the Trump administration, workers are refusing to cooperate with the US Department of Labor out of fear of being reported to ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement).
This article in the Boston Globe shares a number of stories from immigrant workers about exploitation.