Mexico to Pay Braceros
Enlace, News Report, Hiram Soto, Translated by Elena Shore, Posted: Feb 03, 2005
Traducción al español
The Mexican government took the first step this month towards compensating thousands of former braceros, or migrant workers, setting aside 26.5 million dollars in the federal government’s 2005 budget.
The funds, a total of 298.5 million pesos, will be distributed among those who registered as part of a campaign the Mexican government conducted in 2003.
The workers would receive at least part of the 10 percent of the income that was subtracted from their checks during the Bracero Program, a temporary worker agreement between Mexico and the United States that took place from 1942 to 1967.
The Mexican Congress, however, must first create a commission to determine how, when and through what agency it will give out the funds. Mexican authorities hope to give out the money before the end of this year.
The announcement was made after years of demands and complaints by former migrant workers who had worked in the United States as temporary agricultural and railroad workers, replacing young Americans who left to fight in World War II. The time it has taken the government to return the money is critical since a majority of former migrant workers are now elderly or are no longer living.
“It’s a triumph of a lost cause,” said Baldomero Capiz Balderas, director of the Binational Union of Organizations of Former Migrant Workers 1942-1967, and one of the most prominent representatives of migrant workers on both sides of the border.
In San Diego county there are nearly 900 registered workers who participated in the temporary worker program, and there are another five thousand in Tijuana, said María Elena Espinoza of Family House, a community organization in San Ysidro that supports the braceros.
“It’s a triumph because it had no credibility,” said Espinoza, whose father was a migrant worker. “Even here at work they used to ask me how they were going to make a case for such an old demand, but the surprise was that Mexico responded.”
The surprise also pleased Martina Sánchez, who is married to the former migrant worker Dionisio López Madera, 83, who lives in Tijuana and often attends meetings at Family House.
“We are very happy and hopefully it will happen. You know how the government is, but they say it’s been approved,” she said. “We want the money so we can eat, so we won’t be short of food, that’s all, and to support ourselves.”
It is not clear how much money will be returned to the Lopez family or the other 80 thousand migrant workers registered with the government, since the criteria of who will be eligible for compensation has not yet been determined. Although 26.5 million dollars would represent only a small amount of 331 dollars for each beneficiary, it is an important step, according to Assemblyman Valentín González Bautista of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), and secretary of the bipartisan Special Commission of the Mexican House of Representatives in charge of the restitution.
“It’s not enough but at least we are making progress,” said González, who has led the efforts in Congress to return the money. “It was very hard to get them to recognize that they should give it back to these people, but we did it.”
It was never clear what happened to the money that the government took from the migrant workers, although it is widely accepted that the United States transferred a sum of 20 million dollars to Mexico and that the money was lost in the country’s bureaucracy. The funds were supposed to be returned to the workers in the form of social security when they returned to their country.
González indicated that his plan is to increase the number of registered workers in the next few months, both in Mexico and in the United States, and to get the Mexican government to commit more funds next year, that could possibly come from profits generated from importing certain cars.
“We estimate that 150 thousand pesos (about 13 thousand dollars) could be returned to each person, but the conditions of the country don’t permit an amount of that nature,” he said. “That’s why we want to do it in stages.”
The possibility that the funds could be distributed through Mexican consulates in the United States has not been ruled out, though Mexican representatives in San Diego said they had not heard any news to that effect.
Leaders of community organizations urged the workers who participated in the Bracero Program to register at Family House in order to be included if the Mexican government approves a second registration phase.
For now, spirits are high at Family House, which for more than six years has helped register former migrant workers, providing counseling and legal services.
“They are getting justice,” said Espinoza. “And it’s great that they are now getting back a small amount of the large sum of money that they lost.”
Related Stories:
Bush, Kerry Endorse a Return to the Braceros
Former Braceros Still Waiting for Money
President Bush's Immigration Plan and the Lessons of 1986
Ray of Hope for Ex Guest Workers: Some May Be Partially Compensated by Mexico
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