The Bracero Program War creates all kinds of hardships for everyone involved, whether they are on the front lines abroad or right in our own backyard. During World War II one of the difficulties faced in the United States was the lack of labor to work the land and other taxing jobs here in the United States. The solution is to bring in migrant workers from Mexico to complete the job; otherwise known as the Bracero Program. What is the American and Mexican history that led to the Bracero program? Were these workers paid fairly, treated fairly, and benefited in the long term? The United States has a long history of employing workers from other countries. In the 1850s, before Mexicans were prevalent; Chinese workers were hired in California to cultivate the land. After the Chinese Exclusion Act, Japanese workers were hired (Espinosa). Between 1850 and 1890 the growth of Mexican immigrants began to increase and Mexican workers were present in the agricultural industry, mining, and the railroad (Espinsoa). The United States continued to use legal migrant workers for many years to follow and to this day there are laws allowing for legal migrant workers through the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act or MSPA (US Department of Labor). As mentioned above, wartime creates hardships and sometimes it is difficult to recover from those hardships. The outcome of the Mexican Revolution included the killing of millions of peasants. Marentes describes peasants as hard-working, highly skilled agricultural workers. With the loss of so many farmers, the harvest became poor and many were left without work. The Mexican government has been unable to replenish resources and improve the way of life in Mexico, causing... middle of paper... Mexico. What eventually happened was that the agricultural industry of the United States flourished and the land became fertile ground under the hard work of the Braceros, and the Mexicans returned home with almost what little they had to start with. Few managed to prosper, but many remained poor and endured many hardships. In fact, many people consider braceros to be legal slavery. They were discriminated against by many, they were not provided with adequate hygiene facilities, yet they continued to give their all for fear of being sent home. Since no one really knows what happened to that three billion dollars, the Mexican government (not the people) may have benefited greatly. The Bracero program benefited the United States in the long term, perhaps the Mexican government had long term monetary benefits; the Braceros, unfortunately, saw little long-term benefit.