Discusses the importance of the Bracero program in American agriculture, particularly for crops requiring manual labor, known as "stooped labor." Despite advancements in mechanization, certain crops still need hand harvesting, and there is often a shortage of domestic workers willing to take on these tough jobs. Farmers recruit labor well in advance, primarily using domestic sources, but when these prove insufficient, they turn to Braceros, Mexican workers who are legally contracted to fill the labor gap. The program is regulated to ensure fair treatment and pay, and it benefits both American farmers and the Mexican economy. Without Braceros, many crops would be lost, negatively impacting various sectors of the economy.   Transcript: (00:38) farming is America's biggest industry while most major American industries have made great advances in productivity agriculture has outpaced them all one of the reasons has been intense mechanization progress in mechanization has been impressive however some crops must still be harvested by hand where such things as inspection selection cutting or gentle handling are basic to quality yet even now practically every hand-picked crop is under intensive study and the constant flow of new and remarkable experimental equipment is on trial all designed to relieve man's age-old burden of manual labor but until (01:21) each piece of equipment can be shown to eliminate hand labor and reduce costs with no sacrificing quality until then much of the work must still be manual and the placement of thousands of workers at the right place at the right time is an immense job especially at harvest time overall the job has been successfully carried through even in the many crops calling for stooped labor here is Stu player in the literal meaning of the term but the term is also applied to many of the toughest and least desirable farm jobs for example no stooping here yet because citrus trees are thorny more difficult to pick than other fruits most farmworkers avoid this (02:07) kind of job all such farm jobs which are tough dirty or unpleasant are generally referred to as stooped labor understandably then this is the only area in which the American farm labor supply falls short and is supplemented by Mexican citizens sometimes called Nationals or Mexican nationals but the term most commonly used is braceros in Spanish this means a man who works with his arms and hands it so happens that the braceros form a tiny fraction of the total labor force used on our farms yet some Americans feel even this tiny fraction should not be used a typical dialogue pinpoints the major issues well with Americans on relief roles why bring (02:56) in foreigners to work on our farms makes no sense make sense to the farmer though these braceros work for lower pay than Americans would but doesn't the farmer realize he's cutting down American labor cutting down our living stick why doesn't somebody do something about it in short the big question in many minds is why braceros the question is so widespread that we consider it a public service to tell the why and how of braceros on American farms many field crops still call for stooped labor especially at harvest time when demand for labor is at its peak it isn't easy to find men willing to take on such (03:40) undesirable kinds of work so the farmer must begin recruiting his seasonal labor force long before his labor needs reach the critical point once he's estimated the number of men needed he goes to two potential sources one of them is the farm placement service a combined federal and state agency which links men looking for work and farmers who have worked to be done here weeks before the season the grower registers the jobs he has to offer the types of work the specific crops the pay rates and so on this agency does an excellent recruiting job but the farmer knows from long experience that workers able and willing (04:20) to do this to play burr are always in short supply so he goes to a second source a private labor recruiting Association the farmers organized effort to recruit a labor force of their own again weeks in advance he notifies the association of his needs the farmer knows that if the domestic supply is as usual short the Association can if authorized we repeat if authorized supply braceros to compensate for the shortage why is this so critical if labor is not on hand from the crop is ready the crop and the farmers investment is lost which is why days before his harvest date he revisits the farm placement service to (05:10) see whether enough seasonal domestic labor is available to meet his specified needs even if this agency doesn't have enough the farmer is not authorized to import braceros until he proves to the official satisfaction that the farmers own recruiting service has utilized all the seasonal domestic labor available what's more federal law says that the farmer can bring in only the number of braceros required to fill the gap between the available domestic supply and the total number needed for a better understanding why not interview the agent himself would you mind answering a few questions for us sir yes I'd be glad (05:54) to answer them do you get a great many requests for foreign farm workers braceros I'd have to say no to that question actually supplemental workers are a very small part of the farm labor force in California in fact not as many are being used now as a few years ago because there are more domestic laborers now available for farm work we use every possible recruiting method to ensure an adequate supply of labor including newspaper ads radio recruiters and a key location I think we do a pretty complete job of recruiting domestic labor and we meet most of the farmers request except for stooped labor you mean well we even (06:39) supply a good deal of that it's only when we can't find enough domestic laborers and the farmer has utilized all his sources that we approved the use of Nationals and no farmer is authorized to hire braceros unless he agrees to continue every effort on his own to recruit and hire domestic workers wherever they might be available he must pay foreign workers at a rate no less than domestics doing the same kind of work he has to keep us currently advised of the status of any activity in which he's using foreign workers these regulations guarantee the employment rights of domestic workers and nationals are used (07:20) only when the domestic labor supply just can't meet the need thank you sir the farmer now brings his certification for braceros to his own labor recruiting Association and as has been seen this certification for braceros is fully authorized by state and federal authorities all the facts are checked and double-checked and only if they meet the preset conditions can the order be put through only now can the manager of the Farmers Association process through further channels the request for the authorized number of braceros this involves placing the order with the proper authorities at (08:24) the Mexican border the Association manager himself can give us interesting details excuse me sir did you order those Nationals just for that particular farmer so that request represent an accumulation of eight orders composed this area will receive a sizable amount of orders within call the L sent to reception center and place our order for foreign workers but how does the reception center at the border get several hundred workers ready so fast from past experience we know roughly the number of Mexican nationals that will be needed to supplement the local labor in this area we also know the a seasonal high demands for this type of labor so (09:24) when growers come in from the width authorizations from the California Department of Employment sort of find that a local labor shorty does exist I speak now in terms of stew flavored we then are all geared great little but isn't it through your organization that farmers also try to recruit domestic farmworkers yes that's true here is an example of several dad we run locally in an attempt to attract stooped labor we also have used radio as a means of recruitment in states such as Texas in Arizona the results of this recruitment effort as it applies to picking pears peaches and apricots has been very good (10:11) however as it pertains to stoop labor the results were pregnant nil doesn't the Department of Employment supply a good deal of the stoop labor required yes sir but even with their excellent organization and their experienced personnel they are unable to supplies with all this to flavor that is needed in this area for example attorney 15-day recruitment effort on part of the California Department of Employment we requested these number of workers we had daily transportation available at the farm labor office as a matter of fact we requested over 1,100 workers the department employment was only able to recruit 725 this immediately created a (10:59) shortage of soup later of over 450 workers and this is where the mixing Nashville comes in where the local labor will not thank you sir very much and so in practically all such jobs the farmer has all the domestics he and the recruiting agencies can find plus braceros to fill the gap the entire crew domestic or foreign is paid at exactly the same rate but and this is very important even after the braceros are at work in the fields domestic workers still have priority the federal law is specific about this any local who wants to work has transportation all ready to take him out to the field where the farmer must take him on even if it means (11:47) pulling out a bracero to whom he is already committed by contract yet even with free transportation provided by the farmers it is seldom that a bracero is made Idol now what about the treatment of braceros are they mishandled or mistreated in any way the gentleman at the center of this scene is signor Antonio islas the Mexican Council very close to the bracero program listen to what he has to say on this question first of all let me clarify a point these men I'm speaking to are no wetbacks the name applies to Mexicans who enter your contract illegally this may I speak to are known as braceros they enter your country so a (12:43) colorful regulated program worked out between my government and Jewish now to your question as to how the braceros are treated the best proof they are well treated is that the Mexican government has allowed Deacon timid temporary immigration of the workers and that a great number of them are returned here many times the international agreement for this program set up the highest possible standards for a working conditions live in chorus food and welfare for the Mexican worker this program is without doubt well carry out taking into consideration the number of Mexican temporary workers who come to this country I find that very few (13:40) misunderstandings arise and very few errors are committed both Mexico nice estates benefit from this program Mexico assist the American farmer with workers when there is a farm laborer shortest and the nicest a provides additional income to the Mexican worker which improve his economy as I say both sides game in my contacts with the bracero I can summarize my impression by saying they are pleased to come to work in the United States and what of the money earned by the braceros is it all as some people claim drained out of this country hardly look at the braceros when they come here it is obvious they need a great many (14:38) things like clothes for instance where do they spend their money as a local merchant put it as a matter of fact they spend a great deals on money right here they buy clothing and other domestic items such as transistor radios luggage home furnishings items that aren't readily available back home take a look at the braceros when they come into this country and again when they leave they have brand new shirts pants shoes all items bought right here locally let's look at this a little different angle the stoop labor situation being what it is I don't see how the local farmers can get along without purcells without this (15:23) source of Labor many farmers are going to be unable to make a profit and we sure don't want this to happen because the farmer is still our best customer yes with a domestic supply of farm labor being inadequate braceros are a must but some people say to the farmer well make the pay high enough and you'll pull in all the domestic labor you need the fact is that farm wages have gone up steadily for many years but we still don't have enough seasonal domestic labor willing to do this kind of work conclusion unless we have braceros to fill the gap many stooped labor crops will be forced out of American agriculture the (16:08) consequences much of our food processing industries output would be replaced by imports these jobs now held by Americans would be taken by workers in other lands and our plants and equipment would be slowed down or shut down jobs and investment in the transportation industry would feel the blow example in a recent typical year in just one state the transportation of such familiar items as lettuce fresh and process citrus asparagus and tomatoes totaled over 166 and a half million dollars remove these familiar crops from production and these millions now going into transportation would disappear hitting both its management and its (16:58) labor force these same crops from the same state in the same typical year required many types of containers lids caps and labels over a hundred and twelve million dollars worth cut out this hundred and twelve million dollars worth and what happens to the thousands of people who work in or invest in these elide industries and these are just a few of the alight industries whose management machinery production and labor force are all geared to the availability of these familiar crops harvested for the most part by braceros if all such crops are driven out of American farming many jobs in allied industries would be lost many segments (17:47) of our economy would feel the blow the solution to the problem as we said even now machines to eliminate stoop labor are in the pilot stage until they're ready los braceros are unnecessary supplement to our domestic crews in Spanish press arose means a man who works with arms and hands but in American lingo they are called life savers and they are not only to the farmer but to the housewife the grocer the transporter the canner and processor and to all of the other industries whose output and very existence are so closely interlocked and dependent on the continued supply of such crops