Bracero back wage settlement a farce

Maria Inez Zamudio’s article, “Salinas area’s former braceros skeptical of deal,” reports how the long-awaited resolution for braceros who came to work as farm and railroad workers during World War II fell short of expectations.

The settlement resulting from the class-action lawsuit signifies for many a step toward a hard-fought victory, but it is a mockery for the thousands of workers requesting and being denied what is rightfully theirs. To begin with, Mexico’s agreement to pay $14.5 million is absurd considering the amount is not even 1/10 of the $500 million of debt that has accumulated with interest over the years.

The case of the braceros is more than an issue of larceny; it is a case of human rights abuses. It is not likely, however, that the U.S. will recognize that, just like during the Holocaust. The braceros were submitted to an inhumane cleansing process and internment camps. The then-shortage in work force that set the stage for negotiations for the bracero program was little better than a farce created by farmers to justify importation of cheap labor. It’s to no one’s surprise that agriculture maintains a great deal of political leverage in the U.S. Cheap labor is available on the other side of the border, documented or not, and migrants continue to dominate farmers’ work forces.

Or, is it coincidental that Salinas, California, is an agricultural town largely inhabited by immigrants of whom many are undocumented?

The first order of business before hoping for justice is the need to stand up to ambition and unabated hypocrisy.