A labor agreement between Mexico and the United States allowed nearly 2.5 million Mexican workers to come to this country beginning in 1942 to alleviate the severe labor shortages caused by World War II. Under the agreement, the workers were to contribute 10 percent of their paychecks to a pension fund, but the money, estimated in the millions of dollars, disappeared in bureaucratic mazes.

It seems that there will never be justice for the braceros. It seems that the guilty parties are simply waiting for this generation to pass away in order to wipe their hands clean of the thievery that was committed against these former farmworkers. Who kept the money that was due to the braceros? Was it the Mexican government? Was it the U.S. government? Was it the farming companies that exploited this source of cheap labor? Most likely it was a combination of all three.

Last month, the Mexican government finally issued rules on how it would distribute a newly created fund designated to compensate workers for a pension fund that never materialized: in payments of 38,000 pesos (about $3,600 U.S.) to each former bracero.

Understandably many braceros have refused this payment from the Mexican government stating that what they are owed is much more. It’s disgraceful how these workers continue to be treated.

Via / Monterey Herald