Elaine Ayala: Mexico's Braceros Deserve Back Pay - Plus Interest Elaine Ayala - San Antonio Express-News
go to original September 10, 2013

A video about the Asamblea Nacional de Braceros (National Assembly of Braceros) detailing their struggle to regain back-wages stolen from them by the Mexican government after their tenures as guest workers in the United States. Shot in Tlaxcala, Mexico as part of the Mexico Solidarity Network's Study Abroad Program. (FrankDisco86)

Braceros, from the Spanish brazos or arms, were agricultural guest workers from Mexico, so-called because they were recruited to the United States as laborers.

From the 1940s to the mid-1960s, they performed backbreaking work in the nation's fields and orchards.

They also endured humiliation to get here. U.S. Department of Agriculture officials lined them up, unclothed, to inspect and fumigate them with the toxic pesticide DDT.

They lived in substandard conditions, had limited access to safe water and few workplace protections. They were paid, but 10 percent of their earnings were deducted from their paychecks and put in “saving funds” for them. The money was sent to Wells Fargo Bank and Union Trust Co. to be transferred to Mexican banks and to be repaid to the braceros on their return to Mexico.

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