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US Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis earlier this week signed an agreement on migrant workers’ rights with Honduras, the Philippines, Peru and Ecuador. The agreement formalizes a partnership between the consulates of the four nations and the US Department of Labor to educate migrant workers in the country on their health, safety and wage rights. At the same time, President Obama’s administration continues to break deportation records by forcibly removing about 400,000 undocumented immigrants from the US each year. Still, his appointed labor secretary proclaimed on Monday, “[m]igrant workers make important contributions to our economy.”

The contradictory US attitude toward immigrant workers that is at once benevolent and contemptuous has endured throughout history. That tension as experienced during the so-called Bracero program serves as the backdrop to acclaimed playwright Josefina Lopez’s newest production, Trio Los Machos. Trio Los Machos made its world premiere in Los Angeles this month during the 10th anniversary year of Lopez’ groundbreaking film based on her play, Real Women Have Curves, that both entertained and educated mainstream audiences in 2002 about the complex identities of Latina women in the US. A decade later, Trio Los Machos is Lopez’s homage to her father, honoring Latino men. It’s being called a comedic Latino “bromance,” telling the story of three Mexican laborers living in East LA after coming to the country under the Bracero Program, which began during the World War II labor shortage and ended in 1964. The central characters, Lalo, Nacho and Paco, form a friendship spanning 50 years and a guitar trio, a tribute to the real life musicians that comprised the famous Trio Los Panchos. The play features the Panchos’ music and runs through July 8th at Casa 0101 Theater concurrently with the photo exhibit, “Recollections From Yesterday and Today of Ex-Braceros.”

GUEST: Josefina Lopez, award-winning author, playwright, and screenwriter and the Founding Director of Casa 0101 Theater

Casa 0101 Theater is located at 2102 E. First Street (at Louis Street), Boyle Heights, CA 90033.

Trio Los Machos will perform on Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 5:00 p.m., June 8 – July 8, 2012

Visit www.casa0101.org for tickets and more information.

A Free Art Exhibit in The Jean Deleage Gallery at Casa 0101 Theater entitled, “Recollections From Yesterday and Today of Ex-Braceros,” will be running in conjunction with the run of the play.

Find out more about Josefina Lopez’s latest film project and how you can support it here: http://www.indiegogo.com/DetainedintheDesert