Commission for mariachi and orchestra for the Santa Rosa Symphony, California, 2020

 

When the United States entered World War II, farmers were drafted to the front lines, leaving agricultural fields unattended. To prevent crops from spoiling, the Mexican Agricultural Labor Agreement was signed in 1942. Better known as the Bracero Program, this binational treaty exported Mexican workers to harvest American crops. During the years the program lasted, more than three million Mexicans traveled to the fields in the North, hired as temporary laborers. The mutual benefits of the program, for both farmworkers and farmers, led to its annual ratification until 1964, when the invention of harvesting machinery, the Civil Rights Movement, and pressure from the National Farm Workers Association, led by César Chávez, contributed to its cancellation. The plot of Braceros takes place in 1964, during the program's final year.

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Pedro serenades Consuelo with the intention of asking for her hand in marriage, but Jorge, the lady's father, bursts in demanding to know how they plan to support themselves. The groom intends to be hired as a bracero and save money to be a worthy son-in-law, but the father-in-law, who was a bracero in Texas when he was young, flatly refuses to endorse such a plan. In addition to being extorted by Mexican officials and exploited by American farmers, those hired in segregationist states suffered racism and discrimination, so Jorge bitterly recalled his bracero experience. In an attempt to dissuade the suitor from his plans, Jorge narrates in detail his youthful adventures in the harvest, while his wife Dolores highlights the positive aspects of the program that her husband prefers to omit, adopting a kinder stance towards her daughter.

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However, Jorge's misfortunes do not manage to dissuade Pedro from his intentions, and having learned from his own account that he was once a cotton-picking champion, and that he got himself deported after causing trouble with his gambling cheats, he decides to challenge him: If the young man manages to defeat the old man in a sun-to-sun-cotton picking match, the reluctant father will have to consent the wedding. Consuelo, who is not thrilled about watching her boyfriend bet their future with her seasoned father, finds his resolve very romantic and passionately reads the letters in which he recounts his adventures in the California farmlands.

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The term Braceros describes those who work with their arms (braceros literally mean "arm-men" or "manual laborers").