Abrazando El Espiritu - Bracero Families Confront the Us-Mexico Border (Electronic book text)

Structured to meet the needs of employers for low-wage farm workers, the well-known Bracero Program recruited thousands of Mexicans to perform physical labor in the United States between 1942 and 1964 in exchange for remittances that were sent back to Mexico. The Bracero Program transformed interpersonal relationships by dispersing partners and family members across national borders. Mexican workers, mostly men, were away from their families for long periods of time, while women and children at home were forced to inhabit new roles, create new identities, and cope with long-distance communication from fathers, brothers, and sons.Drawing on an extraordinary range of sources, Rosas uncovers a previously hidden history of transnational family life. Intimate and personal experiences and their emotional contours are revealed to show how Mexican immigrants and their families were not passive victims, but creators of new forms of affection, gender roles, and economic survival strategies with long-term consequences.