Speech #890210740

Indians. and Anglos sat on the sidelines. They were unable to work at the wages paid if they were to exist above poverty levels. Anotherthreat came with the legal entrant who came in under the quotaless immigration policy. These were the commuters. who made out papers for entry. obtained permission to live in the United States. and then proceeded to enjoy the best of the two nationsU.S. wages and Mexican prices. The scope of the flow is perhaps best indicated by the number of legal border crossings. In 1961. for example. 103.670.026 legal Mexican crossings were registered. including the braceros. those with temporary work visas. and those who commuted daily to the border areas. An illegal flood of entrants also developed as the number admitted under contract increased. These were the "wetbacks" whom American labor smugglers sometimes brought in. Farmers were more than willing to hire Mexicans whose pay they did not have to guarantee. whose housing they did not have Julian Samora. "The Spanish Speaking People in the United States." a pilot study prepared for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. summary prepared by Eleanor Rubin. p. 17. to maintain. whose illegality made them even more exploitable. (P.L. 78 had set minimum standards which farmers often thought accessive.) Complaints to Congress caused the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service to become more active. The USIANS can exert many pressures. It can deport after hearings and appeals and court judgments. And. it can recommend to an alien that he leave. The numbers of actions which fell into the latter category are surprising.2 Period Mexicans Required deported to leave 194044 ------------------- 17. 078 40.191 194549 ------------------- 70.505 785. 326 195054 ------------------- 63.515 3.841.562 195559 ------------------- 25. 113 237. 093 The national expulsion policy. for that Is what It became. did not improve the status of the MexicanAmerican. Many illegitimate expulsions accompanied the exporting of illegal wetbacks. Many southwesterns today regard "Operation Wetback" in much the same light as the general population does the horror of the Japanese Internment Program during World War II.