bracero

American  

[bruh-sair-oh, brah-, brah-se-raw] / brəˈsɛər oʊ, brɑ-, brɑˈsɛ rɔ /

noun

• braceros
  plural

1. a Mexican laborer admitted legally into the U.S. for a short period to perform seasonal, usually agricultural, labor.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• braceros
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of bracero

First recorded in 1915–20; from Spanish: “laborer,” literally, “one who swings his arms,” equivalent to brazo “arm” + -ero; see origin at brace, -ary

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Explanation

From the 1940s to the 1960s, temporary Mexican workers in the United States were called braceros. An official agreement between the countries included a minimum wage and workplace protections for the braceros. In Spanish, bracero means "one who works with his arms." These laborers filled an acute need for able-bodied farm workers in the U.S. during and after World War II. 1942's Mexican Farm Labor Agreement guaranteed room and board for braceros who moved temporarily to the U.S., as well as minimum pay of 30 cents per hour. The program was renewed several times but eventually became controversial as American workers came to view it as a threat to their employment.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bracero braceros

A photo of her grandfather Ricardo Ovilla and her mother in front of his bracero living quarters appears in “Help Wanted/Leave Now.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026

The Mexican government agreed to pay up to $3,800 to each surviving bracero who lived in the U.S., but Alvarado never applied.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2025

Her father, a butcher by trade, emigrated and found work as a bracero picking crops in fields up and down the West Coast.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2025

Some previously undocumented migrants acquired work contracts through the bracero program, which allowed for Mexican citizens to work legally in the U.S. between 1942 and 1964.

From Salon ● Sep. 21, 2024

I recalled the bracero who everyone thought had tuberculosis.

From "Breaking Through" by Francisco Jiménez

He characterized wages for braceros as unconscionably low, the food substandard and the housing prison-like.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

Under the program, millions of Mexican laborers, known as braceros, were recruited to work on temporary contracts in various sectors, primarily agriculture, but also in railroad construction and other industries.

From Salon ● Mar. 26, 2024

The book also highlights the humiliating medical exams that aspiring braceros had to go through.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2022

And the settlements were paid only to former braceros living in the United States.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2022

I continued to see the braceros, those men I resembled in one way and, in another way, didn’t resemble at all.

From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez

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