Lesson Plan: What the World War II-Era Bracero Program Reveals About U.S. Immigration Debates

Subjects:

U.S. History, Civics/Government

• This would fit into a unit on World War II, particularly on the topic of the War at Home. This could also be included in a unit on immigration history.
• APUSH: Topic 7.12 – World War II: Mobilization

Essential Questions:

• What economic and labor conditions did the Bracero program create for workers?
• How did the rules established when the bracero program was created differ from the reality that braceros faced?
• What factors influenced U.S. immigration policy with Mexico in the 1930s and 1940s?

Lesson Objectives:

Students will:

• Evaluate the factors that led to changes in immigration policy with Mexico in the 1930s through the 1960s.
• Analyze the rules agreed to between Mexico and the United States when the bracero program was established.
• Examine the first-person accounts of braceros through a study of primary sources.
• Compare immigration policies of the past to immigration policies of the present.

Materials:

• Retro Report film “What the World War II-Era Bracero Program Reveals About U.S. Immigration Debates” (Transcript)
• Student Activity handout with links
• Mexican Braceros and U.S. Farm Workers | Wilson Center
• Bracero Program Regulations | Online Archive of California
• The Bracero Program in California, Henry P. Anderson | Internet Archive
• Individual Work Agreement | Online Archive of California
• Bracero History Archive
• My Grandfather, the Bracero, Paola Alonso | Texas Woman’s University
• The Official Bracero Agreement Exhibition Poster | California State University
• Rio Vista Bracero Reception Center | Library of Congress

Procedure:

1. Begin by introducing the topic of immigration to your students. As a brief warm-up, ask students to share “push factors,” or what might make a person leave their country. Then ask students to share “pull factors,” or what would make a person want to move to a new country.
2. Provide students the Student Activity handout and have them read the excerpt from the Wilson Center’s “Mexican Braceros and US Farm Workers.” Students should respond to the following prompts:
   1. What were some terms that the U.S. government offered braceros during World War I?
   2. List at least three challenges braceros faced while working in the United States in that era.
   3. As necessary, briefly have students share their responses as a class.
3. Have students watch the Retro Report film “What the World WarII-Era Bracero Program Reveals About U.S. Immigration Debates” and answer the provided questions.
   1. It may be helpful to provide guidance to students while watching the video. For example, after a section of the video has played that deals with one of the questions the teacher could pause it to allow the students to write their responses.
   2. At the conclusion of the video, students may share answers in a short share-out.
4. Have the students complete the compare and contrast section of the student activity handout. In this section, students will read excerpts from work agreements and then compare them to a personal account from a former bracero. Instruct students to look for and explain how the rules differed from the reality that many braceros experienced.
   1. Students could work alone or in partner groups on this activity. Partners may be a good way for students to come to a consensus on each task.
   2. Conduct a class discussion where students share their responses to each set of rules versus reality.
5. Continue by having students complete the next section, where students read about challenges faced by braceros during the 1940s and 1950s through quotes. Students will then paraphrase each quote. Instruct students to consider the goals and expectations of the braceros. Then, as they read the excerpts, have students describe how the realities braceros faced made it difficult for them to achieve their goals.
6. Have students choose one of the provided primary sources to analyze. Students will use the “See, Think, Wonder” protocol from Harvard Graduate School of Education. For context, the first source is an artistic rendering of the historical bracero agreements. It is annotated, stylistically, to emphasize the hardships and experiences of migrant workers. The second document contains four pages, and provides information about the bracero processing center in Texas. It contains diagrams, information about the evolution of the complex and background information about the bracero program generally.
   1. The Official Bracero Agreement Exhibition Poster | California State University
   2. Rio Vista Bracero Reception Center | Library of Congress
7. Finally, students will create an original letter from a bracero in America to a family member in Mexico. They should choose three to five specific examples from the resources below to incorporate into the letter. Resources for letter:
   1. The quotes from or about braceros on the Activity handout.
   2. The Retro Report video “What the World War II-Era Bracero Program Reveals About U.S. Immigration Debates”
   3. Additional online resources (optional) may include:
   4. 1942: Bracero Program | Library of Congress
   5. Bittersweet Harvest: The Bracero Program 1942 – 1964 | Smithsonian
   6. Bracero History Archive | Center for History and New Media

Extension Activity:

1. For a possible joint lesson with a Spanish class, consider having students translate a portion of an interview with a former Bracero on the Bracero Archive.

About the Author:

Jaime Leverington is a Social Studies teacher at Red Mountain High School in Mesa, Ariz.

Standards

College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies

• D2.His.2.9-12. Analyze change and continuity in historical eras.
• D2.His.3.9-12. Use questions generated about individuals and groups to assess how the significance of their actions changes over time and is shaped by the historical context.
• D2.His.14.9-12. Analyze multiple and complex causes and effects of events in the past.
• D2.Geo.7.9-12. Analyze the reciprocal nature of how historical events and the spatial diffusion of ideas, technologies, and cultural practices have influenced migration patterns and the distribution of human population.

Common Core Literacy Standards

• Reading Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies 6–12:
• (2) Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.
• (6) Evaluate authors’ differing points of view on the same historical event or issue by assessing the authors’ claims, reasoning, and evidence.
• (8) Evaluate an author’s premises, claims, and evidence by corroborating or challenging them with other information.