The Bracero Program

The Bracero Program

About the images: These images show the first waves of Mexican workers traveling to California as part of the Bracero Program (1942-1964). They were headed for California’s fields to replace agricultural workers who had joined the armed services.
from University of California’s Calisphere website (with over 150,000 digitized photos, documents, newspaper articles etc. relating to California history).

Via Neatorama: "With all the hoople surrounding illegal immigration, you may not know that the US Government actually *initiated* the importation of Mexican agricultural laborers into California as part of the Bracero Program [wiki] in 1942 to 1964. Congress enacted the Emergency Labor Program, due to the extreme shortage of farm labor workers due to World War II."