SavannahMann
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- Nov 16, 2016
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Operation Wetback
Summary
Not subject to general immigration restrictions until 1965, Mexicans crossed into the United States at rates of about a million per year in the 1950s. This migration was largely unregulated and southwest agricultural interests depended on Mexican labor; however, national concerns regarding employment for returning soldiers and uncontrolled migration across the southern border inspired the Immigration Bureau to crack down on Mexican immigrants in the United States. Even as the bracero program continued to recruit temporary Mexican workers, the Immigration Bureau and Border Patrol led these military-style round ups, claiming to have deported one million Mexicans. Among those deported, included many U.S. citizens of Mexican descent.
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Operation Wetback (1953-1954) - Immigration History
Even as the bracero program continued to recruit temporary workers from Mexico, the Immigration Bureau led round ups of Mexican nationals. The Bureau claimed to have deported one million Mexicans.immigrationhistory.org
I remember that. It was the genesis of Born in East LA.