Abandoning Their Beloved Land: The Politics of Bracero Migration in Mexico

260 Pages·2023·4.19 MB·English

by  Alberto García

Abandoning Their Beloved Land
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Abandoning Their Beloved Land
the politics of bracero migration
in mexico
Alberto García
university of california press
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University of California Press
Oakland, California
© 2023 by Alberto García
Portions of chapters 1, 2, and 5 were first published in Alberto García,
“Regulating Bracero Migration: How National, Regional, and Local Political
Considerations Shaped the Bracero Program,” Hispanic American Historical
Review 101, no. 3 (2021): 433–60. Copyright 2021, Duke University Press. All
rights reserved. Reprint by permission of the copyright holder.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: García, Alberto, 1983- author.
Title: Abandoning their beloved land : the politics of bracero migration in
Mexico / Alberto García.
Description: Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2023] |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: lccn 2022024992 (print) | lccn 2022024993 (ebook) |
isbn 9780520390225 (cloth) | isbn 9780520390232 (paperback) |
isbn 9780520390249 (ebook)
Subjects: lcsh: Seasonal Farm Laborers Program. | Agricultural laborers—
Political aspects—Mexico—20th century. | Agricultural laborers—
Mexico—History—20th century.
Classification: lcc hd1531.m6 g355 2023 (print) | lcc hd1531.m6 (ebook) |
ddc 331.7/630972—dc23/eng/20220907
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022024992
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022024993
Manufactured in the United States of America
32 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23
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Para mi familia
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contents
List of Illustrations viii
Acknowledgments ix
Abbreviations xiv
Introduction 1
1 • “The Urgent Need to Regulate Departures”:
Federal-Level Administration of the Bracero Program 14
2 • “According to the Jurisdiction’s Necessities”: State-Level
Administration of the Bracero Program 43
3 • “Long-Standing Political and Religious Differences”:
Political-Religious Conflicts and Bracero Migration in
the Greater Bajío 68
4 • “Lack of Work and Lands to Sow”: The Agrarian Reform
and Bracero Migration in the Greater Bajío 98
5 • A “Mockery of Responsibility”: Municipal-Level
Administration of the Bracero Program 121
Conclusion 149
Notes 157
Bibliography 215
Index 235
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illustrations
maps
1. States of Aguascalientes, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Michoacán, and
Zacatecas 2
2. The Greater Bajío (southern Guanajuato, northern Michoacán, and
northeastern Jalisco) 7
3. The Greater Bajío (southwestern Aguascalientes and southern
Zacatecas) 8
4. Contracting center sites 40
figure
1. Changuitiro bracero David Maldonado Mendoza 94
viii
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acknowledgments
I am fairly certain that I am not the first author to realize during the writing
process that referring to “my” book was something of a misnomer, since it
would have been impossible to write it without the generous support of
numerous individuals and institutions. Bringing this book to completion was
a collective effort, though I alone am responsible for any errors or omissions
in the pages that follow.
Writing this book required extensive archival and library research, and
that extensive research required significant financial support. I would like
to thank the University of California, Berkeley, Graduate Division, the
University of California Institute for Mexico and the United States, and the
San José State University Research Foundation for providing the funds that
facilitated my research trips. Once I was at the archives and libraries, I was
fortunate enough to count on the support of a host of talented, enthusiastic,
and dedicated archivists and librarians. The personnel at the Archivo General
de la Nación, the Archivo Histórico del Estado de Aguascalientes, the
Archivo Histórico del Archivo General del Poder Ejecutivo de Guanajuato,
the Archivo Histórico del Estado de Jalisco, the Archivo General e Histórico
del Poder Ejecutivo de Michoacán, the Archivo Histórico Municipal de
Irapuato, the Archivo Municipal e Histórico de Tepatitlán de Morelos, the
Archivo Histórico del Municipio de Zacatecas, the Bancroft Library, and the
Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection were unfailing in their deter-
mination to locate any and all relevant primary documents, monographs, and
journal articles. Just as important, their friendliness and generosity made the
archives feel like a second home during lengthy research trips. I would also
like to recognize Diana Ávila Hernández, Jayson Porter, and Naomi Sussman,
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