Discussion Questions & Interview Summary: Farmworkers & the Bracero Program EXTR

Discussion Questions & Interview Summary: Farmworkers & the Bracero Program EXTRA CREDIT. Textbook: Chapter 4 Immigration: The Bracero Program DQs Describe the contractor system that evolved early in Texas’s and California’s agricultural development. How did it work? What did proponents of the Bracero Program argue were the benefits to Mexico? Why are people abandoning the Mexican countryside in favor of cities and the northern border towns? According to Gonzalez, who do the maquilas benefit? Why is this the case? Do you agree with Gonzalez that the Bracero Program was a strategy designed to transport indentured labor from an underdeveloped country? Why or why not? Why does Gonzalez argue that conditions in countries involved in free trade have moved backward? How has NAFTA impacted Third World countries? How did Rosas use the photographs of his children to inform them about their potential in Mexico? How did he use the same photographs to sway them away from looking toward the United States for opportunities? How did the Bracero Program impact U.S. citizen children of Mexican descent and Mexican children? What did the report issued by the Children’s Bureau demonstrate about the U.S. government? What are the positive and negative aspects of the Bracero Program? Bracero Interview Summary Instead of a second lecture I would like y’all to choose a bracero interview from this archive and listen to at least 30 minutes of it: https://scholarworks.utep.edu/bracero/ There are interviews in Spanish and English – choose whichever language you prefer Include an overview of the interview you listened to in your Discussion Questions submission (name of the person, what you learned from them, what their role was in the program, etc.)