Managing the Migration: Latino Intermediaries and the Expansion of United States Migratory Labor from World War I through the Bracero Program

Abstract

This article charts the migration of ethnic Mexican agricultural workers to the Midwest in the years following the United States’ entrance into World War I, the formalization of an interstate labor recruitment apparatus, and the role of ethnic intermediaries. The introduction of the term “Latino intermediary” here is used to describe the Mexican American truckers and crew leaders who most directly upheld the Midwest's agricultural industry and labor regime. From the end of World War I through the end of the Bracero Program, Latino intermediaries straddled the line between serving the interests of other ethnic Mexican migrant workers, growers, and themselves. While some intermediaries developed profitable business operations, their success often came at the expense of other Latino migrant agricultural workers. Examining the critical role of Latino intermediaries in sustaining Midwestern agribusiness deepens our understanding of how migration from the Southwest to the Midwest was managed and how Latinos negotiated emerging tensions of class and ethnicity.