Interview no. 1031

Mr. Cruz recalls growing up near México City, México, and working in agriculture; he remembers moving to Miacatlán, Morelos, México at the age of sixteen, and joining the Bracero Program in 1946; as a bracero, he worked in California, Oregon, Texas, and Wyoming picking apricots, broccoli, carrots, cotton, lemons, lettuce, onions, oranges, parsley, potatoes, strawberries, and tomatoes; he describes the hiring process he went through, his experiences at the contracting centers in Irapuato, Guanajuato, México, and Empalme, Sonora, México, and the medical exams he endured; additionally, he details what daily life was like for braceros, what food and housing they were given, and the treatment they got from foremen; he relates an instance when he had problems with a Mexican-American foreman, and the discrimination the man had towards Mexicans; furthermore, he explains how he saved money for the future, and why many braceros did not do the same; he discusses what he did for recreation, and how he liked traveling during weekends; moreover, he states that being a bracero was a positive experience for him, and that it helped him buy his house and the land he still works on