California's Bracero Program

Samuel S. Cao

“They [braceros] are viewed as commodities, as objects, as chattels … the average bracero holder probably has less respect for his chattels than the average slaveholder had for his a hundred years ago … you rent a bracero for six weeks or six months, and if he gets damaged, you don’t care. You’ll never see him again. You get next year’s model – a newer, younger, healthier one.” – Henry Pope Anderson, Advisory Board of Citizens for Farm Labor.