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$17.3 million settlement doesn't help all braceros
By Vanessa Colón / The Fresno Bee
A $17.3 million legal settlement would make it easier for some Mexican
guest workers to start collecting a portion of wages they've been
waiting for since World War II -- but hundreds of others in the Valley
probably won't see a dime.
The settlement reached last week in federal court in San Francisco
allows those who were guest workers between 1942 and 1946 to apply for
compensation in the United States. But the so-called "bracero" program
lasted until 1964, and advocates say the settlement won't help those who
worked after 1946, because they still must go to Mexico to get their
one-time benefit.
Each worker is eligible for 38,000 pesos, which is about $3,500. Those
covered by the legal settlement can begin applying today for
compensation.
For years, braceros toiled in the fields and the railroads amid labor
shortages in the United States. Between 1942 and 1946, the program
required 10% of the workers' wages to be deducted and sent to Mexico in
the form of a savings fund to encourage the braceros to return home when
their work was done.
Some believe the deductions continued after 1946, but lawyers in the
case have not been able to find proof of that.
"Our proof limited our scope of the lawsuit," said Matthew Piers, a
Chicago attorney who filed the class-action suit on behalf of the former
braceros.
Lawyers representing the braceros will get $2.8 million. The court is
expected to finalize the agreement in February.
"It's an unjust agreement," said Leonel Flores, a coordinator of the
Fresno-based nonprofit group Union of Ex-Braceros and Immigrants. "It
should be modified."
Roughly half of the 1,300 former braceros in the region from Bakersfield
to Livingston can't claim their money on either side of the border,
Flores said. The problem: They worked after 1946, or they lack a green
card, or they're too old and too sick to register in Mexico.
Under a Mexican law, 38,000 pesos is available to every guest worker,
but that law requires the workers to return to Mexico to claim it. Those
who claim the money under the U.S. lawsuit settlement do not need to
return to Mexico.
The settlement doesn't help Martin Lopez of Fresno. Lopez, 71, worked
from 1955 to 1958 picking cotton, watermelon and lettuce. He doesn't
have a green card, so he can't travel to Mexico and return to the United
States.
"It's not right," Lopez said in Spanish. "We've talked to the consul
about applying from here if you can't go to Mexico. What can you do?"
The closest Mexican government office that handles the payment program
is Mexicali, Baja California, on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Mexico's acting Consul Selene Barceló in Fresno said the consulate is
willing to work with former braceros on a case-by-case basis if they are
unable for health reasons to travel to Mexico.
Dolores Uribe, 65, of Traver will first try to register for the
compensation this week in Fresno. But Uribe fears she might have to go
to Mexico to claim the money. Her husband worked picking beets,
strawberries and onions from 1946 to 1947.
"It would be difficult for me to travel at my age. I can't stand on my
feet too long," Uribe said in Spanish. "It's not fair that some people
will have to leave, and some can stay here and apply. It should be equal
across the board."
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