In 1953, Pres. Eisenhower expanded the "brasero program" because thousands of Mexicans were crossing over and working illegally in the post-war housing boom in the Southwest.
It was killed in 1965 by President Johnson. Looking back, President Johnson made a huge mistake to please the labor unions, as John Fund wrote years ago:
"I've written before about how President Eisenhower's Bracero guest-worker program reduced arrests of illegal aliens at the border from over a million in 1954 to only 45,000 by 1959.The "brasero" program worked for two reasons:
The number of arrests remained under 100,000 a year until 1964, when President Lyndon Johnson ended the program under pressure from labor unions."
1) It established a legal framework for hiring Mexican workers; and,
2) It understood that most Mexicans just wanted to come here to work. They just wanted an opportunity to work, make some dollars and go back home.
Let's revive a modern version of "brasero". Give people a chance to come here, work and go back to Mexico with a pocketful of dollars!
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