LETTER TO CONGRESSMAN REYES The following letter was hand delivered to Rep. Reyes with copies to Reps. David E. Bonior (D-MI) and Xavier Becerra (D- CA). The letter included a list of 303 names of braceros.
November 14, 1997
Hon. Silvestre Reyes
U.S. Representative District 16
U.S. House of Representatives
514 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Congressman Reyes,
As you know, from 1942 to 1964 almost 5 million Mexicans came to this country to work in the fields as "braceros," producing the food needed by America to defeat fascism. The "braceros" made a great contribution to our nation; however, this contribution has been ignored and they have not received the recognition they deserve. In fact, some of the old braceros now live lives of incredible poverty and neglect in Mexico, and the ones in this country are suffering either exploitation in the fields or the denial of the most basic benefits to live in peace the rest of their lives.
President Clinton has made a call to begin a new era of harmony and one free of racism. We fully agree and support this initiative. But first we need to deal with social debts owed to the neglected and the forgotten. It is time to deal with the moral obligation towards the migrant farm workers. The unrecognized efforts of these laborers specifically of the "braceros", need to be addressed and the U.S. Congress has the power to do it.
We ask you, Congressman Reyes, as our highest representative and as a person who values the contribution and the efforts of the migrant farm workers, to initiate legislative action during the next session of the U.S. Congress to officially recognize the contribution of the "braceros" to our nation.
During the past two years, we have been identifying former "braceros." I am enclosing a list of names of some of them. We are conducting interviews to enrich this list. We are working very hard to document the important contribution of the "braceros" and to recover their history. All this work will serve to support your initiative in Congress should you accept this request.
We are confident that you will help us bring back the dignity of farm labor and specially of the labor of the migrant farmworkers, and I thank you for the attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Carlos Marentes
Director
cc. Hon. David E. Bonior, House Democrat Whip
Hon. Xavier Becerra, Hispanic Congressional Caucus
FINAL NOTE FOR THE VISITOR TO THIS WEBSITE: It has been 2 years and we have not received any answer from the Reps. Please help us restore justice and dignity, help us gain congressional recognition for the braceros.
Muchas gracias.
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