History of the U.S. -Mexico Border Part 2 the 1900's
Part 2 of our series covers the 1900's
1910: Mexican Revolution was happening and Mexicans were escaping the Mexican Revolution by immigrating to America. Militias formed along the border to keep them out like the Texas Rangers. “The rangers were very much part of violence toward the indigenous Mexicans and Mexican Americans in the 1910s,” Miguel A. Levario, a Texas Tech history professor says. In addition, Texas vigilantes known as “home guards” began to guard the border. Although these home guards weren’t official state forces, they still had “the blessing of the governor to operate,” he says.
1911: First ever border fence was completed. To keep cattle in Mexico from entering the U.S. This was to prevent cattle tick disease.
1917: Immigration Act of 1917 was passed, it was aimed at restricting immigrants to the U.S. Immigrants had to pay $8 per person and pass a literacy test.
1924: The U.S. created the Border Patrol. It was prohibited and you guessed it, Americans wanted liquor, so there was a lot of smuggling of liquor from Mexico to the United States. Its main goal was to impede Mexican and Asian immigration.
1929: This is the period of the Great Depression and the beginning of WWII. Mass deportation of Mexicans started during the great depression. During this time America was struggling with American Migrants from the states suffering from the “dust bowl” into California. People across the country were desperate to find work.
1940: During WWII came a period about the Braceros, Operation Wetback, and Quotas. Americans were fighting two wars: one in Europe and one in Asia and the U.S. needed help from Mexico to keep its railroads running and farming fields. . They started a guest worker treaty called The Bracero Program in 1942. This program was active until 1964. Over 4.5 million Mexicans participated in this program. However many workers still crossed the border illegally and found work with growers who wanted to keep their costs low.
1954: The U.S. launched a program called Operation Wetback (I cannot tell you how insulting the name of that program is, it hurts just to type it). During this program 4 Million Mexicans were deported back to Mexico. This was also a period of unrest in Mexico. The 1st maquiladoras (assembly plants were built along Mexican border towns). These maquiladoras provide cheap labor and goods for the U.S.
1965: Congress passed the Immigration and Nationality Act. This act ended numerical restrictions by country of origin on immigrants allowed to enter the United States. This was pushed by JFK but finally signed by President Lyndon B Johnson, a Texan. This new policy had a goal of putting the U.S. in a better light against the rise of communism to help promote American ideals.
In Mexico at the time the rich Mexicans were getting richer and very little wealth was distributed to those not at the top. This put huge economic stress on Mexico and more migrants were crossing the border.
1970: Illegal immigration tripled 4/5 illegal immigrants were from Mexico
1972: Illegal Immigrant population topped 1 Million and this created a culture of “out of control”
1975: U.S. House of Representatives wrote an amnesty bill and employers were sanctioned for using illegal immigrants. President Ford set up a Domestic Council Committee on Illegal Aliens. This council used fear tactics, drove down wages for lower skilled workers and had penalties for smugglers.
1978: A select Commission on Immigration and Refugee Policy was created to explore solutions, under President Carter.This commission gave up and said solutions were a mess and in disarray. They recommended law enforcement, employer sanctions, and better border security. It also rejected a guest worker program while supporting amnesty for illegal immigrants.
“The overriding theme of the commission's report is that the United States should continue to accept large numbers of immigrants but must confront the reality of limitations.” Report of the Select Commission on Immigration and Refugee Policy: A Critique by Vernon M. Briggs Jr.
There was also this great quote in the summary of the article about this Commission that is still valid today:
“The commission also should have discussed the controversial but, nevertheless, imperative topic of how public policy should safeguard illegal immigrants in this country. As matters stand, these people are the prey of the most exploitative elements of American society. State legislatures and the federal government increasingly deny coverage of social legislation to needy families of illegal immigrants. The abusive treatment of illegal aliens has already raised human rights issues both inside and outside the nation.16 If the nation expects to continue to reap benefits from illegal immigration, it must be willing to assume the costs as well.”
1976: Early 80’s: Mexican economy was struggling with a lot of debt. They also had a boom and bust cycle in the 80’s and a terrible recession. This meant that more migrants came to the U.S.
1982: The U.S. Supreme Court, Plyler v. Doe, ruled that children of illegal residents have the right to go to a public school for their education. Maquiladoras in Mexico were expanded. It was a case that started in Texas. The U.S. President at this time was Ronald Reagan. The peso was devalued several times during this time period which resulted in massive unemployment in Mexico and increased in illegal migration.
1986: U.S. passes Immigration Reform and Control Act, which again was an employer crackdown and it gave amnesty to 2.7 illegal immigrants. The border patrol apprehended 1.7 million illegal immigrants. But overall illegal immigration went down thanks to the amnesty.
It was also during this time that immigration and Naturalization services increased fourfold to $800 million dollars.
1988: NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement)
1990: Immigration Act was passed under President George H.W. Bush. This act increased the number of immigrants allowed to work in the U.S. to 700,000. It created a Visa Lottery to promote “diversity” from under-represented countries. Improving border enforcement through better training. Crackdown on employers once again. Elimination of non-emergency medical services for illegal immigrants.
1992: Illegal immigration climbed back up to 34 Million in 1992.
1993: NAFTA was ratified under President Bill Clinton. It eliminated tariffs over 15 years between the U.S., Mexico and Canada. It created the 2nd largest trade block in the world. But it wasn’t without issues, in 1994 the Mexican Peso collapsed, wealth was still primarily in the wealthy class. This meant there was a huge wage gap. Mexico lacked infrastructure in agriculture and industry. They did not invest in education or innovation to compete with the U.S. or Canada.
Operation Blockage - Doubled the number of border patrol agents between El Paso and Juarez. It was only supposed to last two weeks and expanded to another program called Operation Hold the Line. Apprehensions dropped temporarily.
Operation Hold-the-Line, Operation Gatekeeper and Operation Safeguard were launched. Operation Hold -the-Line put 400 agents and vehicles every 100 yards to prevent illegal crossings. Operation Gatekeeper and Operation Safeguard were the same, but in San Diego and Arizona. This period saw an increase in human smugglers.
Sandia National Labs studied the INS Strategy and concluded that it was ineffective.
1994: Border Patrol revamped its strategy. INS budget increased to 1.5 Billion. We saw more fences, agents, technology, lighting and surveillance. We now see two new programs, one in El Paso called Hold the Line and in San Diego called Operation Gatekeeper.
President Clinton increased border security, deported criminal aliens, reorganized the asylum process, workplace enforcement (yet again) and encouraged becoming legal citizens.
1996: Congress passed legislation mandating jail time for criminal aliens. Increased Border Patrol Spending, deportees now stay in jail for up to 2 years before appearing with immigration board and border states can deputize police forces to uphold immigration laws.
This resulted in immigrants using non-major ports and they moved to the deserts areas which resulted in more immigrants dying.
References:
The Violent History of the U.S. Mexico Border
A Brief Legislative History of the Last 50 Years on the U.S. -Mexico Border
Helpful information for this non native Texan