Consulate seeking ex-braceros still owed compensation checks

The Mexican Consulate in Yuma is looking for former braceros who have not received a check for compensation from the Mexican government.

Some ex-braceros living in Yuma County began receiving checks last month, according to Patricia Pinzon of the Mexican Consulate.

The money compensates the former migrant workers in the program who worked in agricultural fields in the United States between the years of 1942 and 1964.

About 5,000 former migrant laborers across the country are eligible to receive the money. It is unclear how many beneficiaries from Yuma County are still alive.

They are each receiving about 38,000 pesos, or about $3,000 U.S.

“A portion of their salary was deducted and kept in a fund and the debt was never paid. There are thousands of cases,” Pinzon said.

Ten percent of workers' salaries was deposited as a pension guarantee in Mexican banks. It is believed corrupt Mexican officials looted the funds, leaving many laborers with little or nothing of what they were owed.

Last month the checks were approved and the process of delivery began. In the Yuma area, 102 beneficiaries have received their checks. But the consulate has not been able to communicate with some and is asking the public's help in finding them.

“Most have already been contacted, but some telephone numbers are no longer in service or the mail was returned,” Pinzon said.

The consulate asks the ex-braceros who appear on the list to call for an appointment for delivery of their checks. Checks expire at the end of November.

For more information or to report the whereabouts of beneficiaries, call the Mexican Consulate at 343-0066, 343-9699 or 343-9600.

To review the complete lists of beneficiaries, visit http://www.dof.gob.mx.