Francisco E. BalderramaDecade of Betrayal: Mexican Repatriation in the 1930s

The unjust repatriation of the Mexican Nationals and Mexican-Americans from the United States began when the U.S. economy started to collapse due to the stock market. In 1929 the stock market finally reached its limit and collapsed, an event in history known as “Black Tuesday”. The previous eight years in the U.S. had been great for business, known as the “roaring 20’s”, companies and farmers began producing a significant amount of products, and therefore, becoming wealthy and making the nation wealthy as well. The golden years could have not been possible without the cheap labor provided by Mexican Nationals and Mexican-Americans that continued to work the fields due to the high demand for labor, but because of the extremely low wages positions were often, or never, filled by the “true” Americans, the Anglo’s. Immediately after the crashing of the stock market unemployment soared and companies stopped producing goods across the country. More than half of the countries population went on government aid: Anglos, Mexican Nationals and Mexican-Americans, however, most often the last two groups were denied due to their ethnicity. It did not take long for the “true” Americans to begin pointing fingers at those who did not look like them and blaming them for the collapse of the economy. Furthermore, they also rationalized that if they would somehow “get rid of the Mexicans” they would save hundreds of thousands of dollars on government aid and give that money to truly deserving Americans. In the early 1930’s over 5,000 Mexican Nationals and Mexican Americans were unjustly deported from the states across the country: California, Colorado, Arizona, Texas, Michigan, Washington, and many other states took part in the mass deportation. There isn’t an exact number on how many individuals, along with their families, were illegally deported; some estimate that there could have been very well over 1 and 2 million Mexicans that were repatriated to Mexico during that decade of betrayal. Those that were deported were separated from their families, some were never reunited; homes, properties, and businesses were lost. Many individuals died on their journey back to their motherland due to old age or being immensely ill. With all that being said, not every Anglo supported this act of cruelty such as the governor of California and many farm and ranch owners, and although they tried to make their case it was not heard by the majority of the population who disliked the brown people. It was not until the start of World War II that the unjust repatriation of these men, women, and their kids stopped. Due to the U.S’s involvement in making supplies for the war, many farmers and companies once again began hiring Mexican Nationals and Mexican Americans. The number brown workers increased once the U.S. finally joined the war after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7th 1941; slowly many of the families that had been deported started to make their way back to the U.S. However, many did not return as the humiliation they faced during those hard times was something that they could never forget and returning to where it all took place would be too much for them to accept.With the U.S. now involved in the war, many Mexicans enlisted in the military in hopes of earning the respect of white Americans and the opportunity at becoming American Citizens after their service. It was during this time, in 1942, that the Bracero program was also created where the U.S. and Mexican government agreed to recruit more than 300,000 Mexicans to work low-paying agricultural jobs in the U.S that were left empty as Americans left to fight in WWII. Because of the War and the Bracero program many repatriates were able to return to the U.S., a place they had once called home. However, even after returning from the war as heroes the racist ideologies and the poor treatment of Mexicans still remained. It was obvious to many, and it is still today, that racism exists deep in the roots of this country.In 2005 the state of California apologized by passing the “Apology Act for the 1930’s Mexican Repatriation Program” and apologized to the residents of California. Furthermore, in 2012, Los Angeles County issued their own apology and installed a memorial at the site of the cities first immigration raids: La Placita near Olvera Street.Although it is unknown the exact number of individuals that were illegally deported during that time in history, it is fair to say that many were affected and suffered do those actions. As stated at the beginning of this paper, history tends to repeat itself if it is not learned and studied. If we do not teach events such as these to our younger generations then it is likely that it might occur again in the future. The fact of the matter is that groups of people will always point the finger at others in an attempt to find their scapegoat; if we are not careful a repetition of events such as this one could be just at our front doors.

Recently Mr. Rodriguez's obituary appeared in the LA Times and lead me to purchasing this book. Together with Mr. Francisco Balderrama the book provides an insight into a piece of history we never learned about in school. I have read all of the reviews and it appears the intent of the story may be lost on some of the readers. In the LA Times obituary it stated Mr. Rodriguez was most sad about public ignorance regarding the deportation of Mexicans and Mexican/Americans, "the greatest tragedy of all" was public ignorance of the deportations.My 93 year old mother has often told me about living in El Paso during the 1930s. She recalls how her family was awakened by banging on the door in the middle of the night and the men asking for evidence of legal residence. My grandmother would answer the door with their papers in hand, evidence that they were living in the United States legally. My father enlisted in WWII in order to obtain his citizenship. My husband who had a green card, has lived in the United States since he was four years old, was not offered citizenship when he was sent to Viet Nam. He returned from Viet Nam and was refused employment due to his green card status at the gas or telephone company. As my wise mother would say, "such is life", we continue on. My mother was pleased to see this book with all of the stories and facts it provided. It was proof that her stories were not exaggerations.Detaining people of color still takes place regardless of their birth place. I have been detained twice and I was born here. I think, don't know for sure, that some readers are ashamed of the behavior we are capable of displaying towards minorities. We are quick to deny and protest looking at the past in hopes that in the future these behaviors will not be repeated.We recognize how lucky we are to be living in the United States. Most of our family are business owners, responsible for employing all types of Americans (I have never seen data providing how many immigrants are responsible for jobs in America). Decade of Betrayal reminds us history has a bad habit of repeating itself, that we need to let our kids know what the school districts will not, to read, the importance of family and to vote. Decade of Betrayal: Mexican Repatriation in the 1930s

Nice book .. somewhat unbalanced however, the distinction between mexican nationals and americans born of mexican extraction is not clear and sometimes conflated, rendering some of the conclusions and statements. and statistics ambiguous or misleading.In addition, the work does not set the reality of some things well, by its seemingly biased ( not fitting the intended narrative and party line) omission of the fact that millions of white people who were citizens were roaming the country, having been displaced from sharecropping lands during the same time periods, and glossing over the fact that there indeed were white people that would and did do the field work. It was not just mexicans that lived in shacks .... it was not just mexicans that had their lives torn apart. 13 million American citizens were out of work ...Could have been more balanced by presenting the case that just as in inviting people to a party at your house does not entitle them to stay there when it is time to leave, so too the mexican labor was invited and it would have, under any reasonable theory of social and personal responsibility been their responsibility to make provisions for a possible having to return when the HOST country says its time to go ....