Yesterday I posted a diary that was about Immigration, and during the discussion I posted a comment in which I recommended "something like the Bracero Program" as a possible solution to the issue.
Well, now that I have looked into what that program really was all about, I realize that my suggestion was terribly misinformed.
Here's some of what I found, for anyone interested: (more below)
It turns out that the Bracero Program was started during World War II, in 1942, to provide a cheap labor force while many Americans were away at war.
One of the big problems was that the program continued, long after the war was over:
Delighted with what turned out to be a compliant, dutiful, and cheap workforce during World War II, western farmers had successfully lobbied federal agencies to continue the bracero program into peacetime--The Fight in the Fields
Statistics that were often promulgated about the program suggested that there was a good relationship between the imported workers and their employers. However, such statistics were completely inaccurate. Abuse was rampant, as the Braceros were housed in segregated camps, their housing situations were atrocious, and physical abuse was common. The food services provided to the people were notorious; food poisoning was a frequent condition. In fact "work stoppages occured as quickly over objectionable food as over low earnings" (The Fight in the Fields).
Threats of deportation kept the Braceros in check. They had few rights, if any at all.
The Braceros were allowed to return to their native lands only in case of emergency, and required written permission from their employer. When the contracts expired, the braceros were mandated to hand over their permits and return to Mexico--PBS.ORG.
While the United States fought in the war, it was this hard working, cheap Mexican labor force that upheld a powerful and strong American agricultural economy. However, they were not treated as heroic workers, but more as indentured servants, or slaves. They were treated as another piece of farm machinery.
Braceros were supposed to be protected from servitude, and they were to be imported only when domestic workers were not availabe. In practice, the system was corrupt: It was routine for labor department officials to recruit more braceros than were needed, and local workers would somehow find themselves unable to land field jobs--The Fight in the Fields
The Bracero Program was disbanded in 1964. Humanitarian violations by employers were part of the reason for its end, along with a large flow of illegal workers into the US, which made such a program unecessary. Mistreatment and exploitation of the migrant labor force did not end in 1964, however.
Sources:
1.The Fight in the Fields, Cesar Chavez and the Farmworkers Movement by Susan Ferris and Ricardo Sandoval.
2. PBS.org: 1942 Mexican Immigrant Labor History, http://www.pbs.org/kpbs/theborder/history/timeline/17.html