Bracero Program Pros And Cons

The global agricultural industry has experienced massive turnover following the passing of neoliberal legislation. Developed countries have been heavily reliant on outsourced labour from developing nations to supply labour shortages in given countries. The United States saw the foreclosure of the Bracero program in 1966 for numerous factors including pressure put onto domestic farmers along with the illegal immigration the program created. Although the Canadian Seasonal Agriculture Worker Program demonstrates a model temporary migrant worker program, many flaws regarding the protection these temporary workers receive regardless of the legislation put forth has been brought to question. Other developed countries such as Australia have experienced

The US Bracero Program, which was operational from 1942 to 1964, allowed for the importation of workers from Mexico to work on farms in the US. Although the objective of the program was to replace illegal labour with guest workers, critics argue that the program contributed to further illegal migration (Basok, 2000, p. 217). Critics say that the Bracero Program added to undocumented immigration via providing braceros with sufficient knowledge for permanent migration, establish contacts and relationships with Mexican-American communities in the US, as well as allowing braceros to improve their living standards, raising their overall expectations (Basok, 2000, p. 217-218). During the tenure of the Bracero program, five million Mexican workers were deported from the US; these workers included rejected Bracero program candidates and former braceros who failed to return to Mexico (Basok, 2000, p. 217). An important factor that contributed to the Bracero program based illegal migration was the nature of the recruitment process. With neoliberal ideology concerned with extrapolating the highest potential of profit, the US government preferred to recruit workers at the border for logistical reasons such as a reduction in transportation and fewer delays in hiring workers (Basok, 2000, p. 223). Even with the Mexican government recommending placing recruitment centres in impoverished states in the central regions of Mexico, the US still recruited workers at the border, ultimately leading to large numbers of unselected Mexican workers to cross the border illegally (Basok, 2000, p. 222-223). The US earned criticism from organized labour and social reform and human rights organizations. Many of these organizations outlined critical issues of the Bracero program such as growers not making an effort to recruit domestic