Mexico to Compensate Braceros

Mexico has set aside $26.6 million for thousands of retired laborers who say they were cheated out of earnings from a U.S. guest-worker program decades ago, a lawmaker said Wednesday.

The Mexican Congress approved the package as part of the 2005 budget, said Marco Antonio Gama, a deputy in the lower house and head of a special commission dealing with the former workers, known as braceros.

“In this budget for 2005 we have a starting point to recognize the work of the braceros,” Gama said, adding that compensation could be delivered to the workers, or their families, early next year.

About 80,000 ex-workers are registered as wanting compensation, and up to 400,000 are estimated to be eligible.

Beginning in 1942, hundreds of thousands of men headed north across the border to earn money picking fruit and vegetables under a plan implemented while many U.S. workers were overseas fighting in World War II.

Participants say about 10% of their earnings was withheld to create a savings fund, but they never received the money. It is unclear where the money went.

Including interest, the laborers calculate that they are owed billions of dollars, but the exact figure is uncertain.

Gama said it had not been decided how much each bracero should receive, but said the fund could be expanded.