Abandoning Their Beloved Land: The Politics of Bracero Migration in Mexico

Abandoning Their Beloved Land provides a new history of the Bracero Program, revealing how political factors, Catholic opposition, and agrarian reform influenced the program's administration and individuals' decisions to migrate.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 260 pages
Publication date: 17 January 2023
Publisher: University of California Press

Abandoning Their Beloved Land provides a vital new history of the Bracero Program, a bilateral initiative that allowed Mexican men to work in the United States as seasonal contract farmworkers from 1942 to 1964. Historian Alberto García delves into previously unexplored political factors that shaped the program's direction, including how officials administered the bracero selection process and what motivated campesinos from central states to migrate. Notably, García's book reveals how and why the Mexican government's delegation of Bracero Program-related responsibilities, the powerful influence of conservative Catholic opposition groups in central Mexico, and the failures of the revolution's agrarian reform all profoundly influenced the program's administration and individuals' decisions to migrate as braceros.

The Bracero Program, a bilateral initiative that allowed Mexican men to work in the United States as seasonal contract farmworkers from 1942 to 1964, is explored in depth in Alberto García's essential new book, Abandoning Their Beloved Land. García, a historian, uncovered previously unexamined political factors that shaped the program's direction by utilizing national and local archives in Mexico. These factors include how officials administered the bracero selection process and what motivated campesinos from central states to migrate.

One of the key revelations in García's book is how and why the Mexican government's delegation of Bracero Program-related responsibilities, the powerful influence of conservative Catholic opposition groups in central Mexico, and the failures of the revolution's agrarian reform all profoundly influenced the program's administration and individuals' decisions to migrate as braceros. The Mexican government delegated the program's administration to the U.S. Department of Labor, which was responsible for overseeing the recruitment, transportation, and employment of braceros. However, the government's decision to delegate these responsibilities led to a lack of control and oversight, which allowed for corruption and abuse.

Conservative Catholic opposition groups in central Mexico also played a significant role in shaping the program's direction. These groups opposed the program on moral and religious grounds, arguing that it was exploitative and dehumanizing. They launched protests, boycotts, and other forms of resistance against the program, which ultimately led to its demise. The failures of the revolution's agrarian reform also contributed to the program's administration and individuals' decisions to migrate as braceros. The revolution aimed to redistribute land and wealth to the rural poor, but it failed to achieve its goals, leaving many campesinos in poverty and without access to land.

As a result, many campesinos from central states migrated to the United States as braceros in search of better economic opportunities. The bracero program provided a temporary solution to the labor shortage in the United States, but it also had negative consequences for both the Mexican and American economies. The program led to a decline in wages and working conditions for Mexican farmworkers, and it also contributed to the exploitation of Mexican workers by U.S. employers.

In conclusion, Abandoning Their Beloved Land provides a valuable new perspective on the Bracero Program, shedding light on the political factors that shaped its direction and the decisions of individuals to migrate as braceros. García's book is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of immigration, labor, and the relationship between Mexico and the United States.

Weight: 360g
Dimension: 227 x 153 x 18 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780520390232