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Primary Source Sets
Mexican Labor and World War II: The Bracero Program
Government report responding to Strangers in Our Fields, a book critiquing conditions for laborers in the Bracero Program, 1956.

Government report responding to Strangers in Our Fields, a book critiquing conditions for laborers in the Bracero Program, 1956.

In 1956, labor organizer Ernesto Galarza published a book, Strangers in Our Fields, reporting on the conditions faced by braceros in the United States. The book begins with this statement from a worker: "In this camp, we have no names. We are called only by numbers." The book concludes that workers in the program were lied to, cheated and "shamefully neglected.” In this report, federal officials attempt to refute Galarza’s findings point by point. These officials are reporting from Region X of the Bureau of Secure Employment (part of the Department of Labor), which covers Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.

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Citation Information
“A Report on ‘Strangers in Our Fields’ by Region X, Regional Office, Bureau of Employment Security," Digital Public Library of America, https://dp.la/item/e6aa58392d3bf75dfe2006a66491b8d4.
Note: These citations are programmatically generated and may be incomplete.
Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration.

Tips for Students

For this source, consider:

  • the author's point of view
  • the author's purpose
  • historical context
  • audience

Item 10 of 15 in the Primary Source Set Mexican Labor and World War II: The Bracero Program

Previous ItemNext Item
A photo of officials standing with a group of braceros by a Southern Pacific train in California, 1942.
A photo of braceros arriving in Salinas, California, in a Pacific Greyhound Line bus, 1942.
A photo of braceros sitting on the back of a flatbed truck holding hoes, 1942.
A photo of a farm owner supervising braceros as they harvest sugar beets and toss them in the back of the truck, 1942.
A photo of braceros eating in the labor camp dining hall, 1942.
A photo of a man walking among the labor camp buildings at Spreckels Sugar Company in Woodland, California, 1942.
A photo of a group of braceros entering a church with the priest at the door and officials supervising, 1942.
A photo of braceros receiving paychecks in Skagit Valley, Washington, 1943.
A photo of braceros before a return to Mexico, 1963.
Government report responding to Strangers in Our Fields, a book critiquing conditions for laborers in the Bracero Program, 1956.
An excerpt from a 2011 oral history interview with a father who worked as a bracero in Arizona and his son (in Spanish).
A 2011 oral history interview with a man who grew up on a farm in Arizona recounting how hard the braceros worked in the fields.
A 1951 letter to a Dallas newspaper, detailing the author’s opposition to “wetback labor.”
A denied request for “300 Mexican nationals” to harvest pears, issued by the US Department of Labor, 1960.
A transcription of a 1962 Los Angeles Times news story: “U.S. Charges Falsifying of Bracero Pay Books.”

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