José Alvarez, left, with granddaughter Izel Alvarez, 3, on his lap, came to the U.S. in the 1950s under the original Bracero program. At right is his son, San Diego City Councilman David Alvarez, right. — Peggy Peattie
Sacramento
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José Alvarez, here in a photo from 1958,
came to the U.S. in the 1950s under
the original Bracero program. |
More than a half-century ago José Alvarez left family and friends behind in a small Mexican village as part of a wave of “braceros” determined to carve out a better life in America.
Today, the 79-year-old Alvarez can reflect with pride, knowing that without those sacrifices toiling in the fields his son, David, would not have had the opportunity to grow up to become a major influence as a San Diego City Council member.
“I am proud of my entire family. If I had not been able to come to this country as a bracero and have the opportunity we wouldn’t be where we are today,” José Alvarez said in Spanish, with his son acting as
Bracero Program’s history of controversy:
Like all immigration and guest-worker debates, the Bracero Program was plagued by controversy and conflict. The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History has a traveling exhibit with a telling title: “Bittersweet Harvest.”
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt approved the program shortly after the start of World War II to provide a steady stream of labor for planting and harvesting. Some braceros also worked to maintain the railroads. The agricultural part of the program operated from 1942-1964, drawing more than four million Mexicans over that span.
Only Mexicans from rural areas could apply. They were processed at regional border facilities, one of which was in El Centro in Imperial County. They worked 45 days or so and then had to return to Mexico, obtaining a new card that permitted them to come back when called again.
Throughout, there were allegations that the braceros were taken advantage of, from having farmers collect most of the pay for housing food and other essentials to poor living conditions. It was during this time that the short-
