Description
Structured to meet employers’ needs for low-wage farm workers, the well known Bracero Program recruited thousands of Mexicans to perform physical labor in the US between 1942 and 1964 in exchange for remittances sent back to Mexico. As partners and members of the family were dispersed across national borders, interpersonal relationships were transformed. The prolonged absences of Mexican workers, mostly men, forced women and children at home to inhabit new roles, create new identities, and take care of long-distance communication from fathers, brothers, and sons.
Drawing on an ordinary range of sources, Ana Elizabeth Rosas uncovers a prior to now hidden history of transnational circle of relatives life. Intimate and personal experiences are revealed to show how Mexican immigrants and their families were not passive sufferers but as a substitute found how one can embrace the spirit (abrazando el espíritu) of making and implementing difficult decisions concerning their circle of relatives situationscreating new forms of affection, gender roles, and economic survival strategies with long-term consequences.