El Paso Incident (October 1948)

The Mexican government had wisely insisted on minimum working standards for their citizens but could do little to monitor U.S. compliance with them.  Evidence of this was demonstrated in the “El Paso Incident” in October 1948 when local INS officials unilaterally opened the U.S.-Mexican border at El Paso to eager migrant workers.10   Even though WWII had been over for three years, farmers’ demands for cheap labor could apparently not be quenched in compliance with the agreement.  Mexico City’s response to such blatant violation of the agreement was immediate abrogation.  The State Department answered with a note of apology but U.S. farmers continued to recruit illegal workers even before the two countries reached another agreement.11

Taken from Bracero Program