As part of a bilateral commitment to focus on winning World War II, over 100,000 contracts were signed between 1943 and 1945 to recruit and transport Mexican workers to the United States for employment on the railroads. A little known companion to the widely criticized agricultural bracero program, the railroad bracero program corresponded in its implementation more closely to the original intent of both governments than did its agricultural counterpart.

In spite of pressure from the railroad industry to continue the program indefinitely, the U.S. government was adamant about terminating it on schedule, and returning the workers to Mexico. The Tracks North is the only book-length study devoted to the railroad bracero program, and the only one to provide such a clear picture of the internal workings of the program in Mexico.