Bracero is a Spanish word that means “hired hand” and comes from the word brazo or “arm.” The term bracero was generally used to refer to Mexican contract laborers working in the United States. Beginning on August 4, 1942, and authorized by Congress shortly thereafter, the U.S. government formally operated the Bracero Program, a federal guest-worker program designed to provide low-wage, temporary immigrant labor for agriculturalists and for the railroads—two industries that had grown accustomed to Depression-era wages and had a history of reliance on migrant and immigrant workers. [Source: Green Food: An A-to-Z Guide; Bracero Program]
Bracero program
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