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Help Wanted – Get Out: How The U.S. Turned Its Back On Millions Of Mexican Guest Workers

Eías García Castro, a former bracero, lives in the small town of San Miguelito, Guanajuato.
Gabriel Cristóver Pérez/Texas Standard
Eías García Castro, a former bracero, lives in the small town of San Miguelito, Guanajuato.

From Texas Standard:

“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best,” Donald Trump said at the  kickoff of his presidential campaign in 2015. "They're bringing drugs," he said. "They're bringing crime. They're rapists," allowing that "some, I assume, are good people."

But at one time, workers from Mexico were called “absolutely essential to the survival” of some U.S. industries – and were brought into the country by the millions, with the approval of the federal government.

In  Help Wanted – Get Out!, a series of reports for , reporter Joy Diaz traces the northward path of immigrants from their homes in Mexico, and tells the stories of how these immigrants' lives are now woven into the fabric of the United States.Help Wanted – Get Out! tells their story in four parts:

This series is made possible by a generous grant from .

Copyright 2020 KUT 90.5. To see more, visit .

Texas Standard reporter Joy Diaz has amassed a lengthy and highly recognized body of work in public media reporting. Prior to joining Texas Standard, Joy was a reporter with Austin NPR station KUT on and off since 2005. There, she covered city news and politics, education, healthcare and immigration.