The Legacy of the Braceros : Continued

Stockton , back in the days when the new school year didn ’ t start until the harvest was in .

“ It was hard work for us as kids , but we always slept well ! A family friend once showed me his calloused hands and said , ‘ Stay in school , get an education and you ’ ll have choices in life ,’” Banuelos recalled .

Banuelos moved to Morgan Hill in 1988 . He has had many positive experiences volunteering with other community members to help migrant farm workers in the community .

“ Many are here on their own . They work multiple jobs trying to make ends meet and send money home ,” Banuelos said . “ They write their names and phone numbers on their hands or on their pants , ‘ in case anything were to happen ,’ so someone could call their family back home . As undocumented workers they are vulnerable . Our legal system has grown complicated and it ’ s backlogged . For many people , time runs out while they ’ re waiting for help . And they continue to do the majority of the farm work that supports Santa Clara County ’ s economy .”

California is the world ' s fifth largest supplier of food , cotton fiber and other agricultural commodities . We ’ re first in the nation for agricultural cash receipts . Our agricultural exports top $ 25 billion annually , and our farmers produce over onethird of the vegetables and two-thirds of the fruits and nuts in the U . S .

Dolores Huerta , Cesar Chavez courtesy http :// cesarchaveznm . org /

For more than a century we ’ ve benefited greatly from the labor of people who are largely invisible to us and vulnerable to the flaws in our labor , immigration and judicial systems . Yes , awareness is growing , policies are changing , communities are taking action , but we still have a long way to go .

Robin Shepherd contributes this column on behalf of the Morgan Hill Historical Society . Mario Banuelos is President-Elect of Morgan Hill Rotary Club , a board member of the Morgan Hill Community Foundation , and this year ’ s recipient of the Leadership Excellence ( LEAD ) award from Leadership Morgan Hill . Dolores Huerta , courtesy US Dept . of Labor

Sources :

• Bracero Program History , Immigrationhistory . org

• Bracero Workers in California 1960 – Harvey Richards Media Archive

• CA Dept Of Ed / History Social Science Framework , californiahss . org / BraceroProgram . html

• Calisphere , calisphere . org / exhibitions / 36 / the-bracero-program /

• Forgotten Voices : Story of the Bracero Program , youtube . com / watch ? v = AL5d9CWV0Xg

• Harvest of Loneliness , https :// bit . ly / 40RrqMf .

• Stoop Labor , imdb . com / title / tt1658805 /

• Harvest of Shame 1960 , youtube . com / watch ? v = yJTVF _ dya7E

• Library of Congress , guides . loc . gov / latinx-civil-rights / bracero-program

• US Dept of Labor , https :// bit . ly / 3E5spym

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