Mexican-Americans in the 20th Century

“Mexican Repatriation”

• Great Depression (1929-1939): anti-Mexican racism increased due to US unemployment

• “Mexican Repatriation” was an unofficial policy approved by President Hoover– Immigration and Naturalization Services

targeted Mexicans, looking for illegal aliens

– Over 500,000 illegal-immigrant Mexicans and Mexican-Americans US citizens returned to Mexico

– California, Texas, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan felt the greatest pressure

Family from Montana forced to repatriate

Bracero Program

• During WW2, US needed agricultural and industrial labor

• US had pressured 500,000 Mexicans to leave US during Depression

• “Bracero” = manual laborer• “Guest worker program” from

1942-1964• 4.5 Million border crossings for

Mexican workers• Program guaranteed decent

wages, housing, and health care• Illegal immigration also increased,

as undocumented workers would work for less than guaranteed wages

Mexican workers arrive in Los Angeles in 1942

César Chávez

• Born as a US citizen in Yuma, AZ

• Worked as a migrant farm worker in CA

• As young adult, began to organize farm workers to vote

• Founded “National Farm Workers Association” which became “United Farm Workers”

• Organized strikes by grape and lettuce workers, leading to higher pay

• Chávez and UFW protested against Bracero Program because it lowered wages of American workers and left migrants unprotected (protesting illegals could easily be deported)

• Supported amnesty piece of 1986 Immigration Reform Act

Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986

• Required employers to determine their employees' immigration status

• Made it a crime to knowingly hire illegal immigrants

• Granted amnesty to certain seasonal agricultural illegal immigrants.

• Granted amnesty to illegal immigrants who entered the United States before January 1, 1982 and had resided in US continuously.

• Signed by Reagan• Around 3 million people received

amnesty

President Reagan signing the act in 1986

Mexican Immigration Today

• 2008: 1.4 million Mexican immigrants in US

• Mexicans are 30.1 percent of all US immigrants

• 10% of all Mexicans live in US

• Over half of all Mexican immigrants in US are undocumented