Carbajal showed on X, a Mexican govt photo stating, “This was the picture on my green card when I immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico in 1970 at age 5.”
<><>The Bracero Program, which allegedly allowed his entire family to immigrate legally, ended in December 1964—one month after his birth and six years before his reported arrival in 1970.
<><>While Mr. Carbajal has frequently stated that his father was a farmworker, his official biography indicates his father worked in an Arizona mine when his family came to the U.S.
<><>The Bracero Program was limited to temporary workers in agriculture and railroads due to WWII labor shortages—the mining industry was not part of the program.
<><>The program granted visas only to individual male laborers, not their families.
<><>If his father was a Bracero, how did the entire family enter legally?
Astute Santa Barbara Current journos reported on Carbajal’s immigration history in February. The Current reported the following:
<><>In an article titled Consequences, Congressman Salud Carbajal’s self-described “inspiring immigrant story” was briefly mentioned.
<><>his office strongly objected to the following statement:
<><>“Salud Carbajal, immigrated illegally with his family at age five (first to Arizona and then) to Oxnard, where his father worked on a farm.
<><>Salud eventually became a U.S. citizen, served in the military, and was elected to public office.
<><>While Salud’s self-adulating “success story” is admirable, it is not the reason many argue for illegal immigration.
<><>His office specifically challenged the article’s claim that he entered the U.S. illegally, calling it “patently and provably false.”
<><>The fair-minded journos’ response, was to invite Mr. Carbajal’s office
<><>to provide proof of his legal entry,
<><>based on their own assertions that such proof exists
<><>given Carbajal’s extensive public discussion of his immigration story throughout his campaigns.
<><>Carbajal’s arrogant response? “We have nothing more to discuss.”