Comments on: Living in an Other America

By: Noemi

Noemi — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 23:35:07 +0000

wasn’t there a case about the bracero program going and it was settled, folks in Cali were able to receive $?

By: Malicia

Malicia — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 16:18:54 +0000

And I like your those with freedom share it. How powerful is your freedom when you feel the need to hold on to it so tightly and have nothing to give away. the opposite, hopeful attitude is what has attracted the best immigrants to the US and without them this country will stagnate and die.

Time keeps changing, and so does the country.
If you really believe in what this country stands for you want people here that also stand for freedom. Those are the people that will make America a better country – no matter where they were born.

Doing work that no one else wants to do may be how someone gets their start – but no one with hope and drive to do more deserves to have to stay there permanatly, with all hope of advancement/citizenship/education denied to them. that’s not what this country should be about.

And looking at guest worker programs in other countries reinforces that it’s a bad idea. Did you read about the riots in Paris a few years ago? What should these people care about the country they are in if they are hated and the attitude is just “ur here to work and go home” I personally think immigrant disrespect is un-American. Yes we’ve made mistakes to point out, but to me they were made on the way to a better atttitude, and the apology to the braceros represents that.

And the song I’m listening to – “Give it away, give it away, give it away now…”

By: Living in an Other America « Tejaztlán Notebook

Living in an Other America « Tejaztlán Notebook — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 11:23:36 +0000

[...] in an Other America Read The Unapologetic Mexican’s latest post on human rights, immigration and politics: UNCLE SAM AND JOHN MCCAIN vs Lady Liberty and Mother Nature. Two with fences to protect and two [...]

By: Richard

Richard — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 20:50:05 +0000

This probably doesn’t affect a lot of people. Any surviving WWII braceros are at least 80 years old now. It’s important for people to know that if they are the descendants of these unsung heroes of WWII, they are eligible for compensation. Most of these people in the U.S. will be “natural born citizens”, but the compensation will be through Mexican consulates, so if someone is “illegal” I would recommend applying anyway (assuming there are still records).

The money isn’t a lot, but it is acknowledgment by the Mexican government that in the rush to assist in “la guerra contra nazifascismo”, mistakes were made, and there was war profiteering.

The 1942-46 Bracero Program was an honorable effort, and not all the problems were intentional. Record keeping was a mess — farmers didn’t always know they had to keep the set-asides in a separate account, nor did rural bankers always understand the program (though many did just pocket the deposits and never sent them on)… on top of this, there were employers who couldn’t understand that Jose Garcia Lopez and Jose Lopez Garcia were two different people… or theft (in both the U.S. and Mexico).

And, of course, many employers were dicks.

What was less honorable, and still needs to be resolved are compensation for the post-war Braceros (1946-65). What had been meant as an emergency measure to keep farms, factories and railroads running became a handy-dandy way to exploit cheap labor and supress wages in the Southwest — one reason Cesar Chavez objected to Mexican farm labor. Labor guarantees (Mexican workers were supposed to have their own unions and representatives) were overlooked, payments were “lost” and complainers were deported.