I’ve always heard that crops rotted in the fields and hundreds of thousands of Americans starved to death until we were saved by the Noble Illegals.
Actually, from 1942 to 1964, many crops were harvested by workers in the Bracero Program.
These legal contract workers were NOT immigrants. They were contracted for certain jobs and, in the off season, returned home to Mexico to enjoy their earnings with their families. In 1959, the Bracero Program used 444,000 contract workers.
The Bracero Program ended when Ceasar Chavez and the unions targeted the program.