1964 – Bracero Program Ends; Undocumented Laborers Continue to Arrive from Mexico

“In 1964, Washington cancelled [the Bracero] program unilaterally, and a
new stage emerged. The Mexican government insisted on renewing the
program. The US government was not interested because migrant laborers
continued to arrive without papers and outside of negotiated agreements.
Thus began the era of undocumented migration by ‘irregular’ migrants
who worked temporarily under the threat of deportation… The Mexican
side was a ‘no-man’s land’ where criminals and human traffickers
operated freely… In this phase, laissez-faire attitudes and policies
reigned, though both governments would pay the costs 20 years later.”