9781422277461

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Getting Here

early 1930s, federal and state governments began undertaking something called repatriation, which is a nice-sounding word for deportation. “It was announced,” wrote historian Francisco Balderrama, “that we need to provide jobs for Americans, and so we need to get rid of these other people. [Officials told people that] you would be better off in Mex- ico, here are your train tickets. You should be ready to go.” Repatriation programs forced more than a million people out of the country, and not just Mexican citizens. In fact, about 60 percent of those sent “back home” were American citizens who happened to be ethnically Mexican. Despite this, Mexican immigration spiked again just a fewyears later. As World War II ramped up, politicians changed their minds about Mex- ican labor. They worried that the war effort would result in mass labor shortages, and these fears led to the creation of the Mexican Farm Labor Program. Informally known as the Bracero program ( bracero is a Span- ish word for farm laborer), this legislation brought millions of Mexicans

1962 film on Bracero program