PROGRAM AND ITS IMPACT ON OKLAHOMA. THE WORD BRACERO. IT’S A SPANISH TERM THAT CAN BE TRANSLATED INTO A LENDING HAND AND THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT IT DID WHEN THE BRACERO PROGRAM STARTED IN 1942, THREE YEARS AFTER THE BEGINNING OF WORLD WAR TWO, AS US CITIZENS LEFT TO FIGHT OVERSEAS, AS THEY LEFT BEHIND JOBS IN THE US, INCLUDING RIGHT HERE IN OKLAHOMA, THEN MORE HUMAN CAPITAL WAS NEEDED DUE TO THE PRESSING NEED. WHAT THE FARMERS DID AND THE US DID. THEY TURNED TO THE SOUTH SIDE. HERRERA ORIANA WITH THE OKLAHOMA HISTORICAL SOCIETY, SAYS MEXICAN WORKERS MADE THEIR WAY ACROSS THE BORDER TO WHEN THE APPLICANTS WERE APPROVED. THEY WOULD BE SEARCHED FOR VEGETABLES, WEAPONS, MARIJUANA OR ANY SIMILAR CONTRABAND. AND SPRAYED WITH DDT. INSECTICIDES BY THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE PERSONNEL. ONE APPLICANT WAS JOSE MARIA LEMUS, VICENTE RUIZ’S FATHER, IN LAW. THEY DEFINITELY CHANGED THEIR LIFE. EVEN THOUGH HE HAD SOME LAND IN MEXICO, YOU KNOW, HE DID A LOT BETTER OVER HERE. JOSE STARTED IN THE FARMS PICKING TOMATOES LIKE MANY OTHERS, BRACEROS ALSO WORKED OUTSIDE THE FARM, INCLUDING HERE IN OKLAHOMA, PUTTING OUR STATE ON THE MAP. SO EXPANDING THE RAILROADS, BUILDING NEW AND IMPROVED STATIONS, UPGRADING EXISTING LINES AND LAYING THOUSANDS OF RAIL RAILWAYS. THAT WAS KEY IN CONNECTING THE COMMERCE WITH THE REST OF THE OTHER STATES. NATIONALLY, MANY SAW THE WORK AS AN OPPORTUNITY CITY, HOPING TO SEND MONEY BACK HOME. BUT FOR MOST, THAT WASN’T A REALITY. EVEN THOUGH THEY’RE TRYING TO MAKE A HIGHER WAGE IN HERE, THEY’RE NOT ABLE TO SEND ALL OF IT BECAUSE OF ALL THE PREDATORY FEES. THERE WERE SOME CASES WHERE THEY WERE BEING CHARGED TO HAVE OF EVEN A CONTRACTING FEE, EVEN IF THEY WERE NOT BEING CONTRACTED BY A THIRD PARTY ALONG WITH THE FEES CAME THE INJUSTICES, INCLUDING POOR HOUSING, INCLUDING DISCRIMINATION AND SOMETIMES ABUSE, ESPECIALLY ON THE SOUTH SIDE, UNFULFILLED CONTRACTS, UNJUSTIFIED RETAINED WAGES. EVENTUALLY NEW LAWS WERE MADE TO PROTECT BRACEROS RIGHTS, AND 22 YEARS LATER, TECHNOLOGY ADVANCED IN THE PROGRAM ENDED IN 1964. WORKERS WERE SENT BACK TO MEXICO, BUT FOR A LUCKY FEW, LIKE JOSE, THE US BECAME THEIR NEW HOME. A FARMER OWNER, HE LIKED THE WAY HE WORKED, AND SO HE KEPT THEM. YEAH. SO THANKS TO THAT, I MEAN, HE WAS ABLE LATER ON TO APPLY FOR THE AMNESTY. THAT’S WHEN HE WAS ABLE TO BRING ALSO HIS FAMILY OVER LEGALLY. THEY DEFINITELY CHANGED THEIR LIVES. DEFINITELY, YOU KNOW, WAS ABLE TO BUY A HOUSE LATER ON AND SEND THEIR KIDS T