About This Lesson
The content in this lesson bundle bridges World War II, the Cold War and modern immigration policy by taking a close look at how the United States handled agricultural guest worker programs at two points in recent history.
The Bracero Program brought workers from Mexico to the United States on special temporary visas for agricultural work to help with farming in a time of labor shortage during and after World War II. Despite their contributions and the stated program regulations, Mexican workers faced unfair treatment and exploitation.
Fueled by Cold War fears and racism, “Operation Wetback” (Operation W) was a United States government plan to deport agricultural workers to Mexico, often forcefully. Even some United States citizens were caught up in the operation and deported.
Each lesson in this bundle is designed to stand alone, but they would also work well in a pair. A gallery walk of photographs from the Bracero Program is included in both lessons to build essential background knowledge and can be skipped in the second lesson if they are being used in series.
Each of the two lessons is designed to be flexible and adaptable based on the needs of your class by offering options such as multiple leveled texts, ways to differentiate and ideas for supporting or challenging students with various learning needs.
A curated collection of supplemental resources for additional learning or classroom study, including several excellent complementary lesson plans from other organizations, is available at the end of this document.
