A bilateral US-Mexico labor agreement signed in August 1942 that brought an estimated 4.6 million Mexican guest workers (braceros) to US farms and railroads through more than 22 years of program operation. Workers signed short-term contracts, were housed in barracks, and faced widespread wage theft, pesticide exposure, and abusive conditions; ten percent of wages were withheld for retirement accounts that, in many cases, were never paid out (the subject of a 2008 class-action settlement). The program ended in December 1964; its legacy directly informs current debates over H-2A guest-worker policy.

Why it’s been targeted

El Paso teachers told El Paso Matters in March 2026 that they are “fighting to keep Mexican American studies alive” as the Texas TEKS rewrite proceeds. The El Paso representative on the Texas State Board of Education has publicly warned that already-limited Mexican-American-studies content — including the Bracero Program — may diminish further under the 2024–26 standards revision and Senate Bill 12 (2025), which bans DEI activities. The March 2026 TEA Chavez directive (above) is part of the same pattern.