Mexican Bracero Program

Superior Essays
Mexico and United States relations are vastly intertwined however; the major interaction between United States citizens and Mexican immigrants began in 1917. The first bracero program took its form under the Immigration Act of 1917. This act allowed immigrants, under various provisions and expectations, to migrate the United States as laborers in factories, fields, and mining. The Act specifically asked for a tax to be paid for every “alien” who is not traveling with parents and is under the age of 16 that enters the United States (1917). A literacy test was conducted for every migrant over the age of 16 in which they had to read 30 words in whatever language they requested (1917). This test was created to filter undesirables from entering …show more content…
In the first program, the United States set the parameters for immigration because the United States was welcoming immigrants with open, skeptical arms. Mexico took the initiative during the Bracero Program because of the previous mistreatment and discrimination. This discrimination was similar to Jim Crow in the segregation and “widely practiced in theaters, restaurants, stores, public facilities, and schools” and it was not covered in the (Henderson, 2011). Mexico also took the initiative because it was in a position of power over the United States. The United States was on the verge of losing harvest and tension between Mexico and the United States was high since the United States mass deported Mexicans (Henderson, 2011). The Bracero Program officially ended in 1964 but the idea of Mexican ‘aliens’ taking jobs from United States citizens still shapes relationships between law enforcers, politicians, and …show more content…
This categorization allows racism to penetrate the colorblind mindset that the legal system claims it has. Although Latinos are placed in between, they are often grouped together and treated the same as blacks in terms of the hyper criminalization of the youth and the over policing of minorities. However, this is not always the case because it varies depending on the neighborhood and the amount of whites that reside there compared to Latinos or blacks. Paul Reck conducted an ethnography in 2006 where he rode and followed police officers as they patrolled through three different neighborhoods in a northeastern state. He observed the racial disparities among police practices mainly towards Latinos and Blacks. The first neighborhood he observed is called Corewood and the majority of people who live there are whites. In this neighborhood, the type of policing that was observed was a service type meaning the police were there for the good of the community. The police officers were interviewed and asked about their perceptions of Latinos. Their responses were not surprising because it is very common for the legal system to have the same or similar views. Reck noticed that many Latino ethnicities were grouped together and were seen as Mexican. In other words, everyone who looked Mexican was automatically negatively seen and was more likely to be pulled over and stopped. He

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