Speech #880067065

But let us look at this situation more closely. Prior to 1962 there was no attempt to prohibit the bracero program from adversely affecting domestic wages. The simple fact is that domestic migrants wages were then lower than what they would have been without Public Law 78. That conclusion is simple supplyanddemand analysis. supplemented by the fact that braceros can live much more cheaply than can domestic migrants. Farm wages were thus depressed before any concrete and practical adverseeffect provision was put into practice. In March. 1962. therefore. when the Labor Department set the minimum wage for braceros. it was taking an average wage for an occupation already depressed by a cheap foreign labor supply.