Deportation Of Mexican Immigrants example essay topic

Mexican immigration into the United States has been going on for a long time. One of the first big wave of immigrants was in 1910 during Mexico's revolution. The numbers have been going up ever since. Mexicans have been getting mixed signals from the United States about their immigration. In the 1920's the U. S was very welcoming due to labor shortage in results to World War I. During the Great Depression of the 1930's Mexican immigrants were being blamed for taking the Americans jobs away. When the United States joined World War II the fear of shortage in the agricultural field grew again, and again they turned to Mexico for help through the Bracero Program.

When the United States was in no longer need of Mexican workers they deported them back to Mexico. The United States was welcoming and friendly to Mexican immigrant but only when convenient for them. Mexican Revolution began in 1910 and lasted until 1921. During this time Mexico and United states were in good standings.

The United States kept out of the revolution although it did supply them with weapons. Mexico was full of chaos, there was no law or order. Many Mexicans left to the United States in look for a better life. In 1917 The United States entered World War I. During World War I United States was in search for unskilled workers for farming, railroad work, and work in other industries. The 1917 Immigration Act established a literacy test and head tax, but these restrictions on entry did not apply to Mexican immigrations. These exemptions were granted 1917-1920 and allowed fifty thousand Mexicans to enter.

The 1920's was a period of intense natives in the United States saw immigrants as a threat to Americas well being. To deal with the rising volume of migration from Mexico, Congress founded the U. S Border Patrol. At first the patrol lacked sufficient officers and equipment and areas that were requires twenty-four attention were only covered for eight hours at the most. In 1926 the Border patrol had 472 men, in 1927 632 men, in 1928 791 men. By 1930 the Border Patrol had captured over one hundred thousand illegal aliens, and over twenty -six hundred smugglers.

Despite the nativism of the U. S citizens and the formation of the Border Patrol, the booming U. S economy of the "Roaring Twenties continued to generate a high demand for unskilled workers. Due to restrictions on European and Asian immigrations, U. S employers continued to look southward for unskilled workers. The stock market crashed on October 1929, this marked a new era in the history of Mexico-U. S migration. With the begging of the Great Depression in the 1930's the attitudes of U. S citizens towards Mexican immigrants hardened and grew very hostile. As unemployment rose to record levels in the U. S, Mexican immigrants became covenant scapegoats.

Mexican immigrants were blamed for "taking away jobs of Americans". To ease the frightened U. S workers, a massive round-up and deportation of Mexican immigration. Through out the United States, federal authorities in cooperation with state and local officials, coordinated a series of deportation campaign that during the 1930's succeeded in reducing the size of Mexican population to forty one percent. During the 1930's the presidency of Lazaro Cardenas was a time of great structural transformation and social change in Mexico. Mexico's economy was going up, from 1930 to 1970 the real rate of economic growth average six percent per year, this became known as the "Mexican economic miracle" Despite this impressive growth, the rate of job creation in urban areas was no match Mexico's rural population. December 1941 United States enters World War II.

The mobilization of American industry for the war effort and the enactment of military conscription created the prospect of serious labor shortage in American agriculture. Agricultural growers grew alarmed at the prospect of a labor shortage and turned to Congress and the president for help. Federal authorities did not want disruption of the food supply during was mobilization, so they turned to Mexico to recruit the necessary workers. In early 1942 the Roosevelt administration negotiated a binational treaty for temporary importation of Mexican farm workers who became known as braceros. On September 29, 1942 the first batch of five hundred braceros was delivered by federal authorities.

During the Bracero Program, the size of Mexican migration (legal and illegal) was governed by the U. S ability to absorb workers rather than by the U. S ability to absorb workers rather than by a limitation of supply of Mexican workers. The northward movement was encouraged by advertising by American farmers, and increased as the news of available work spread. The hiring of illegal Mexican aliens increased as employers were dissatisfied with the Bracero Program. By 1944 the magnitude of this illegal border traffic reached new levels. From 1944-1954 was known as the "wetback " period. The number of immigrants went up every year in 1944 it was 26,689 and in 1954 1,075,168.

Mexico nor the United States was willing to accept responsibility for the phenomenal increase of Mexican migration to the United States. Mexico was unwilling to increase it's efforts to keep the workers home and suggested that the remedy lay in American action against employers of illegal immigrants. In a discussion held in 1947 between U. S and Mexico, it was agreed that the U. S give the subject of illegal entrants further study and that illegal aliens still in the U. S be legalized by contracting them at the border as bracero to assure them decent treatment. The Border Patrol had been transformed from a small guard to a small army by 1954.

With this new army of 800 officers began "Operation Wetback", an unprecendent campaign to round up an unprecendent number of illegal Mexican aliens. "Operation Wetback" began June 17, 1954. Assisting the Border Patrol were: federal, state, county, municipal authorities-including railroad police officers, custom officials, FBI, Army, And Navy-supported by aircraft, watercraft, automobiles, radio units, special task forces, and public sentiment. During this operation a daily average of 1,727 illegal aliens were deported. Voluntary departures also increased. Mexican migrated back to Mexico, and them immigrated back to the United States.

From 1960-1968 Mexicans were able to enter without numerical restrictions into the United States. During this period 386,000 Mexicans received permanent resident visas, this was a forty three percent increase over the period 1950-1958. Abraham Hoffman, Unwanted Mexican Americans in the Great Depreddion. Arizona: U. Of Arizona Press, 1974.9 Douglas Massey, Beyond Smoke and Mirrors.

New York: Russel Sage Foundation, 1992.33 Hoffman, 31 Manuel Gamio, The Mexican Immigrant. New York: Arno Press and The New York Times, 1969.38 Juliana Samora, Los Mojados: The Wetback Story. Indiana: U. of Norte Dame Press, 1971.41 Massey, 35 Hoffman, 35 Massey, 36 Samora, 44 Gamio, 58 Samora, 52 Massey, 43.