Operation Wetback

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Hi, everyone. This is Carmen and Christina and this is
Estorias Unknown, a podcast where we talk about Latin American history.
Sometimes it's horrible and deals with tibe topics like racism, corruption,
and genocide. But more than that, it's also about resistance,
power and community. Okay, and uh, Christina, what are we
talking about today? Well, Carmen, since winning the election is okay? Sorry,

(00:40):
go ahead, let me do my intro that I wrote
up and I like it and wow, I'm excited to
hear it. Okay, I'm gonna start before your scream. Don't
scream again. Okay, I'm not gonna scream. Since winning the election,
Trump is back in the headlines saying a lot of
things like always today. At the time recording November eighteen,

(01:04):
twenty twenty four, one headline stood out to me. Donald
Trump plans to declare a national emergency in order to
enact a program of mass deportations using the military. And
that's nothing new for him. Yeah. During the last round
of campaigns for him, which was twenty sixteen or twenty twenty,

(01:26):
which I guess I blocked from my memory. That do
you block? Twenty twenty, there was three campaigns pretential campaigns.
Yeah from this man. Yep. Three. My brain hurts, all right,
So probably both times. I feel like he often talked
about how much he loved Operation went Back. I don't

(01:49):
remember that at all. You don't remember him saying how
much he loved Operation went Back? Okay, I don't. I
don't remember which round twenty sixteen or twenty twenty that
this direct quote comes from, but he said, and it
was during it must have been the twenty sixteen debate,
I think. But he said the following Dwight Eisenhower, good president,

(02:10):
great president. People liked him. I like ike, right the
expression I like ike. Moved a million half illegal immigrants
out of this country. Moved them just beyond the border.
They came back. Moved them again beyond the border. They
came back. They didn't like it, moved way south. They
never came back. I'm sorry, fucking talk, sorry, try to finish.

(02:35):
It's fucking okay, Okay, they never came back. Dwight Eisenhower,
you don't get nicer, you don't get friendlier. They moved
a million half people out. We have no choice. End quote.
That's the stupid, sucking way you can talk. And I

(02:56):
can't talk like Kevin from the office. Shorter sentences save time. Yep,
that's how he talks. I can't believe we're being subjected
to this again, like like this is like non coherent babbel.
It's where you kind of understand it after reading it
again and you're like, okay, not complete sentences, but apparently

(03:18):
it speaks to millions of dumb gitches. Literally literally hurt
my brain when I read that. Anyway, the point of this,
oh right, there was a point to this. Yes, that
number half a million half people, which he that number
is not even like right, but whatever, Oh like he
didn't say that a million and a half people, but

(03:40):
he's keeps saying a million half people, not like one
point five million or whatever. Okay, one point five million people.
That number is a lie. The operation went back to
not deport one point five million people a lie? Really,
some numbers put it at three hundred thousand. But what
was a operation wetback? That is today's topic. And yeah,

(04:04):
I had something else in mind, half written already, and
then I saw the headline when I woke up, and
we were like, nope, it's finally time to do an
episode on Operation Wetback. It's been on the list for
forever and we've talked about it, but yeah, that is
the episode today, Operation went Back. And yes, that was
the name because people, I mean, you know, some people

(04:25):
today still use the term, but back then it was
widely used. Before we get into Operation Wetback. There is
some context that we need a lot that we've already
discussed over several episodes, like La Migra, Oh my god,
my brain is not working. I can tell I didn't

(04:48):
take my booster meds. Oh I just took mine. You
better take a bandage of your meds now, because soon
you're going to be in a concentration camp with everyone
else that takes adhd yes. According to RFK, he's going
to put every who takes well, he's said adderall, and
I don't. You don't take generall. No, I take metal venedades.
So okay, well maybe no, who's kidding? Are we kidding? Anyway? Yeah?

(05:11):
I got to use them now. Well, like okay, so
where even was I? Oh? Yeah? In La Grand matcha episode,
we talked a little bit more about immigration laws, the
history of like immigration. Over several episodes we've done, you know,
little bits of Mexican migration to the US, and we've

(05:34):
you know, we've talked about all of that. Yeah, like
in the placid Vea episode where we talked about the
Placida raid. There were mass deportations of Mexicans during the
Great Depression. Americans were looking for someone to blame for
the lack of work, money, food, everything, because he's this
sucks for everyone, and instead of uniting like as a country,
they were like, those people are not us, they are

(05:55):
causing all this. Deport them. Well it's like always yeah,
I'm looking for escape to go, and more often than
not it's immigrants. Yeah, one type of immigrant. Yeah yeah, sorry,
brown immigrants. Yes, yes, So Mexicans were you know, first
Mexicans were among the first to be fired as soon

(06:16):
as the Wall Street crash of nineteen twenty nine happened.
Like all Mexicans were fired basically, and a lot voluntarily
returned to Mexico like on their own, but the ones
that didn't were deported. So during the Great Depression, the
numbers it's hard to find exact numbers, but the US
according to US numbers, like US government numbers, over the years,

(06:37):
they've said eighty two hundred to one point eight million.
Mexico said two million were deported or left on their own.
They joined those two numbers to count them as all deported,
which included Mexican American citizens too, because of course there's

(06:58):
you know, the children of my Mexican immigrants moor here, right,
they're going to go with their families, right, But also
just Mexican citizens in general were rounded up too, like
they weren't safe because they looked Mexican, so they were
also deported. So by nineteen thirty four, one third of
all Mexicans and the United States had been deported, which

(07:19):
is a lot. Yeah, I made a surprise, fase, yes
you did. It's estimated that sixty percent of those were
US born citizens. Entire barrios in La disappeared during this time.
Oh my god. You know. But then in a few years,
with all the deported Mexicans and then World War two,

(07:42):
the US was in need of labor, and so the
Mexican and American governments developed the Rossetto program, which is
the following and we've said this before, but the Mexican
Farm Labor Program was the executive order that established the
Rossetto program in nineteen forty two. This was an agreement
beare when the US and Mexico which allowed Mexican men

(08:02):
to work legally in the US under short term labor contracts,
but undocumented immigrants were still entering the US and being
hired by American workers. Some states, like California became dependent
on the Bassetto program and on doing it right using
the Bataceto program workers who are legally in the US,
But other places like Texas shocker there, refused to participate

(08:28):
in the Batacetto program because they didn't want to adhere
to the rules and wages established by the program, and
they wanted to pay them even less and exploit undocumented workers,
so they continued to hire them, and this was essentially
like going over the program that's supposed to benefit benefit

(08:49):
both countries, the US Mexico. Mexico was not happy. They
needed workers to come back, which is what the Basseto
program was doing. Contract over returned to Mexico, come back
for season work. Most people did until all the undocumented
workers that were being hired in Texas this required them
to stay. It wasn't seasonal work anymore, so now they

(09:09):
were staying, they weren't returning to Mexico and Mexico needed
workers too, so they pressured the US to tighten immigration
laws and border security. This is actually when the border
wall was made and a border patrol presence was increased,
and there were smaller rounds of deportations that led up
to operation went back to try and get Textan farmers

(09:31):
to comply with the Verasclo program. So they'd go and like,
you know, take all their undocumented workers, and like you
have to use the rasseto program. You can't use these workers.
They're being deported. And these depretations they happened with the
help of the Mexican government. They had to like they
wanted them back in Mexico too. The problem with these

(09:51):
deportations is that then workers simply re entered the US,
so then Mexico and the US. And when I say that,
it's the government's right of these two countries in case
people are not clear. But they worked together to make
a plan that would deport Mexicans deeper into Mexico using
trains built in planes, but it hadn't really been fully implemented.

(10:13):
The plan was there that way Mexicans wouldn't return. Okay.
In the middle of all this planning, Texan farmers ruined
it again, of course they did. When Border patrol arrived
to deport their undocumented workers, they fought back with guns.
Oh my god, these are my workers. Oh my god.

(10:36):
Only it's like so ironic now that they were like
and it wasn't in the interest of the workers, it
was in their own interests. But they're they're fighting deportations.
So yeah, in response to that, the Mexican government sent
their troops to the Mexican side of the border. When

(10:59):
they did that, this is nineteen fifty three, now, when
they did that, the predecessor to Operation Went Back was
thought up in response to this. So Harlan Carter just
you know, sounds like an evil name, but no, I
don't recognize it. Yeah, Harlan Carter, the head of Border Patrol,

(11:24):
went to President Eisenhower and proposed a plan to use
the US military to round up and topport undocumented Mexicans.
He called it Operation cloud Burst. But eisen Howard rejected
the plan because there was this doctrine that I forgot
to write down the name of. But this thing that
made it so the US military could not be used
for domestic law indrustments. Okay, I've heard of that it's

(11:46):
still the thing today. This is the National Guard exists.
And also more on Harlan Carter because he fucking sucks.
He's actually there's a two or three part episode on
Behind the Bastards. Oh really about him. Yeah, I'm gonna
check that out. It's like, I don't remember what they
titled it, but yeah, he's he's the guy who created Bordatrol. Basically,

(12:06):
oh my god, anyone, yeah, who could do that, red,
no matter what person. But yeah, he's actually a convicted murderer.
I'm shocked. In nineteen thirty one, when he was a
mere seventeen years old, he killed Ramon Gaciano, a Mexican
American teen, where he lived in La Lo, Texas, and

(12:30):
he he was upset that Ramon and his Mexican friends
were hanging out in front of his house. Oh my god,
and so he hunted them down, found them, aimed the
shotgun at Ramon's chest and pulled the trigger. Wow. So
he like deliberately m hm wow, straight up killer. Wow.

(12:51):
And jury convicted him of the killing. Oh good, they
found him guilty, but then it was overturned because there
was some procedural like technical thing that went wrong but
he literally was found guilty, Like yeah, but uh yeah,

(13:12):
no repercussions for any of this, you know, and clearly
his Was it a coincidence that this was a Mexican
American teen? I don't. I don't know, not at all,
you know. Yeah, so, you know, he went on to
have a nice career. He went to join the US
Border Patrol, and then I don't, I can't remember like
his full story. I didn't write it down for this episode.

(13:33):
So somehow he becomes like the head of the Border
Patrol at some point. Okay, but the behind the Bastard's
episodes does go to get into that deep into it. Yeah, okay,
so yeah, he's the one who proposed Operation cloud Lift.
And so in the middle of all this tension that
was going on, Mexico took back their agreement on the
Vasado program. They're like no more. This is when Eisenhower

(13:57):
changed Operation cloud Burst into Operation where Back and said
we're doing this. He appointed Army General Joseph May Swing
as a Commissioner of the i S, the Immigration and
Naturalization Service, and then together General Swing and Harlan Carter
carried out Operation Wetback, only using Border Patrol instead of

(14:18):
the military, so now it was legal. So on June ninth,
nineteen fifty four, I S Commissioner Swing announced the commencement
of Operation Wetback. The first phase of the operation began
in California and Arizona, and really more than a mass
deportation campaign, it was also a terror campaign. It was

(14:41):
a show to put fear into like Mexicans in the country,
like the government showing like, hey, this is what we
can do, so you should be scared. Yeah. And also
this show of THEIRS was super exaggerated. They wanted it
to look like a straight up war strategy, like the
way it was di Eyes. It was like basically a

(15:03):
basically a military operation using border patrol. Wow, they used well,
I'll mention this in a bit so. Phase one was
called Operation bus Lift. It took place in Arizona and California.
Greyhound buses leaving El Centro, California to Nogales, Arizona were
full of deportees. Twenty eight buses with a total of

(15:23):
one thousand and eight undocumented migrants. They were taken to
Arizona and then from there into deep like the desert,
like twenty ish miles past the border to make it
harder for them to come back right. And then a
week after this it was Phase two. This was called
Operation Sweeps. So here border patrol rated farms to find

(15:45):
undocumented workers with the help of local police, and here
four thousand, four hundred and three were rounded up in
just that first week. But these sweeps continued throughout the
Central Valley and the rest of California and Arizona. Then
on July third, the first Mobile Task Force was set
up in McAllen, Texas, and here they set up roadblock

(16:07):
inspections to stop undocumented migrants who were heading north on trains,
so they were raiding trains basically. And these initial phases
scared a lot who would end up voluntarily returning to
Mexico on their own. I've read different numbers. Some said
sixty thousand to half a million left on their own

(16:28):
before being deported, But they're being counted in that total
one point five million that Trump keeps spouting. But technically
they weren't deported. So by September third, nineteen fifty four,
deportations by c began. So the SS Emancipation and the

(16:48):
SS Vera Cruz would sail two thousand miles from Port Isabel,
Texas to Vera Cruz, Mexico, and they did this twenty
six times. Wow. This trip, both ships transported around eight
hundred to one thousand undocumented workers or immigrants to per voyage.

(17:08):
And then on September eighteenth, they started doing airlifts from
the Midwest. So now you know, places like Chicago, Saint Louis,
Kansas City were rounding up migrants and then putting them
on planes, then from there going to Brownsville, Texas, and
then after that they were put on ships to Vera Cruz.

(17:30):
And the conditions of these ships were later compared to
ships carrying enslaved Africans. Oh my god, Camo was called Emancipation.
You know, it's probably the same ship. That'd be the
same I said, that's what it was called. No, it
is called that. I'm saying, it's probably like a ship
that was used back then. Obviously it wasn't. Yeah, that

(17:51):
would be so, but like what a fucking name, right, Like, yeah,
not cool. A lot of people call these ships hell ships.
They were severely overcrowded. At least five deportees drowned because
of the conditions and the overcrowdedness of the ships, and

(18:12):
then just more on like the rounding of the deportees.
Border patrol agents would go into Mexican neighborhoods, often in
the middle of the night. Sometimes they would drive around
in circles for hours to make it seem like there
were more of them than there actually were, like all
the cars don't stop coming, but it's just the same
card Oh my god. Yeah. Also that's just like to

(18:35):
scare them more on purpose. Yeah, they would also go
into Mexican businesses sometimes they you know, they just grabbed
whoever looked Mexican and then demanded identification from Mexican looking people.
And like you know, back then, nobody carried their documentation,
so if they can prove that they were born here,

(18:56):
they were just taken. So that's how a lot of
citizens ended up being deported as well, on top of
the children of immigrants. So yeah, anyone Mexican looking, which
is racist of course, of course, and we don't need
to say it, but we do need to say it, right,
like apparently we do. Yeah, Like this reminds me of
you know, the hr Yeah that we all tried to

(19:21):
stop and now there's like versions of it across different states.
But you know, there was a oh a different law
in Arizona that they were trying to pass to stop
all people suspected of being undocumented. But really it was
like anyone that looked Mexican. Yeah. Yeah, and now that's
like all that kind of stuff is coming back. That's

(19:43):
called racial profiling. Yeah, and it is racist also, wow,
against the law. Yeah, but that's what they were doing
back then, just oh you look Mexican, let's you know,
deport you. There were no hearings, no trials, which is
a right, but not a right for and documented people. Yeah.

(20:03):
They were simply just put on the back of trucks
buses and then just deported. Uh. They weren't even allowed
to like contact their families. So many times they didn't
even know, like families of them didn't didn't know that
they were taken, like they just disappeared. And since deeper
tees were taken deeper into Mexico, uh, often not where

(20:25):
they were originally from, they didn't know how to get to.
They didn't know where they were. Like my god, Now
imagine that for like people born in the US, like
drop me in the middle of Mexico and I'm like
what the fuck? Oh my god, I would someone take music. Well,
I got up, mom, Mom take me. How do I
get to my Wita's house? Historian Meda Cruz. Oh yeah, god,

(20:51):
oh my god, I can't imagine. You imagine how like
and back then like no, like now, I don't know.
If you had your phone, you could GPS or whatever,
but with probably nothing, none of their belongings. Yeah, nothing,
no map, no money, I don't know. Yeah, it's seriously
messed up. And like some people were lucky to be

(21:11):
deported into cities, like the people that were left in Veracruz.
They were taken to a port where there's a city,
and there was a little bit of help from the
Mexican government who supposedly supposedly they said, we're going to
help all the deportees. They didn't wow, And like I said,
they weren't able to grather belongings. They didn't have anything
on them, like nothing when they were deported to Mexico.

(21:34):
And the worst was the ones that were deported to
the middle of the desert with nothing, not even food
or water. Wow, that's like a death sentence. It literally
was a death sentence. You know. They were left in
the middle of the desert in one hundred and twelve
degree weather. Eighty eight Mexicans died in July nineteen fifty

(21:56):
five due to this. Wow. And it would have been
more if the Red Cross hadn't intervened, which is yeah,
literally death sentence, like a death march. That's what they're doing,
making these people get off the bus and they're like
taking them to their deaths. Literally. Yeah. There's reports of

(22:16):
like reporters tried to they would get on these buses
to try and like document all this and they couldn't
like keep up with the deportees like documenting their journey
because it was too difficult. Wow. And their asses are reporters,
they have their things with them, they can leave, go back,
you know. But that's how hard it was. Wow. So yeah,

(22:37):
eighty eight died, and yeah, they were apprehended without giving
a chance to contact their family members and also to
accommodate all the rounding up of people, makeshift concentration camps
created in public parks. Sounds familiar, right, like Alesioned Park

(23:03):
in La Wow. Yeah, that was a concentration camp. Up
to a thousand people were held at these. That's a lot. Yes,
I didn't know that I've heard because we've talked a
little bit about Operation New went back, but I didn't
know about concentration camps. Like I'm not shocked, but I'm

(23:24):
just like, I can't believe I didn't know this. And
of course, right, because all these people need to be
held somewhere. Yeah, and now the system in place now
didn't exist back then detention centers, which are the same
thing concentration. Yeah. Yeah, so at these camps, they migrants

(23:44):
reported being beaten and mistreated. No surprise there, no, So
all of this was like a show to American people.
Reporters like followed all the deporties. It was like like
a what do they call it? Media circus? Oh? Okay, yeah? Sorry. Also,
I'm dying right now. I don't know. I just sat

(24:06):
down and I'm like I was dying too because of
mymd's wearing. Now, okay, because I'm the one doing all
the talking, I feel alive again, right, that makes a
lot of sense. Yeah, so yeah, all of this was
like a show to the American people. Here are some
of the headlines by LA Times, July twelve, nineteen fifty four.

(24:26):
Wetbacks Detention Center camp slated Ilesian Park will be focal
point in Alien roundup June eighteen, nineteen fifty four, Five
hundred and nat by La wetback raiders two hundred to
take part in the raid June nineteen, nineteen fifty four,
one two hundred and fifty nine more wetbacks deported in
a single day. Yesterday's returnees at Nogales make up biggest

(24:50):
number in current crackdown. June twenty, nineteen fifty four wet
bags heard it at Nogales Camp one thousand, one hundred
eighty seven wait and blistering for last leg of journey home.
They loved the world went back. Yeah an alien, Yes, yes.

(25:11):
Many celebrated the deportations, of course, including Mexican Americans. If
I had to hear about these goddamn fools one more
fucking time, I'm gonna square up. I'm gonna find the
guys on the street and I'm gonna square up because
I'm so tired of this. Yeah. So that's not our
own hand they of course. But now there's like a

(25:34):
leopard ate my face moment coming. Wow. So among the
Mexican Americans that they support the deportations, they were largely veterans,
no surprise, dumb men, so influential Latino organizations like the
League of United Latin American Citizens and the American gi

(25:57):
Forum supported tough immigration policy that the US was instituting.
But as the raids continued and now citizens were also
being deported, then they were like, oh, maybe it isn't
Maybe it is a problem. Oh hold on, maybe it's
not about document document status or immigration status. Maybe it's

(26:17):
actually a racist act and based on racism and in aphobia,
not on legal immigrations, you know what I mean, Like, yes, duh,
and history, history tells us what happens, right, and so yeah,
I'll just leave it at that. Yeah. So they finally

(26:40):
began to realize, you know, it was a problem. So
historian David Gutierrez wrote the following in his book Walls
and Mirrors. Not even the most politically conservative Mexican American
organizations could ignore the fact that immigration drag nets so
roundups not only were affecting illegal aliens, but also were

(27:00):
devastating to Mexican American families, disrupting businesses in Mexican neighborhoods
and fanning inter ethnic animosities throughout the border region. By
nineteen fifty four, done by nineteen fifty four, Lulax News

(27:21):
publication was running more sympathetic stories as before, so they
described the status of those arriving in Mexico as broken
man with strength spent and exhausted by the senseless struggles
of a life evolving around slavish, ill paid labor and
the degradation degradation of jail and prison cells. So like

(27:44):
now they're finally seeing them. Oh wow, when the father
of a Mexican American child is deported, it affects the
whole family. Who would have thought or affects Oh, that's
the uncle of someone. Oll Oh my uncle. I'm a
veteran and I'm my uncle, like you know, Like it
wasn't until it started affecting them. And more often than not,
families are like mixed status. So of course it affects citizens.

(28:07):
And I mean, if it only even if it didn't
affect only citizens, like you should care anyway, Maybe they
should have cared before. At least they changed their standards.
That's true. It's important people do and can change their minds,
and that's a good thing. Yeah, okay, and now I'm

(28:28):
gonna I found this like last minute. It's from the
Wall Street Journal and it was paywal but apparently my
library gives me subscriptions to the Oh, to a bunch
of like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
If I log in through the library, I can access
the WOW like if I had a subscription, it has

(28:51):
a bunch of magazines. But I've never like you should
look into see newspapers because it comes in handy. So
Victor Ochoa was seven years old when a stranger in
a wide brimmed hat came to his house and told
his parents they had three days to leave the US.
How old does he he was? Seven? Oh, my gosh, okay.
The man had a pistol underneath his trench coat, and

(29:13):
he warned that federal immigration authorities would be back to
make sure that they were gone. So that night he
remembers hearing his mother's whales echoing through their whole house
while they had to leave or make plans to leave
La East La and return to Mexico. He was born
in the US. He remembers that day in nineteen fifty five,

(29:35):
like still seventy years later. This was published in September
and of September, So seventy years later, he still remembers
the details of the day they had to leave, and
the twelve times that followed. His parents had arrived illegally
a decade before he was born. Oh my god, sorry,
a decade before that day they were deported. So ten

(29:55):
years they had been in the country. They worked in factories,
they drove trucks, they cleaned. How they raised him and
his sister to speak only English. I know, I know,
those are the times, but that does not you know,
like assimilation, It just it never works, you know. Yeah,
and now they're being deported and at least he was seven,

(30:16):
so you know, being deported back at that age, he
could pick up the language quicker back in Mexico, but yeah,
he didn't speak Spanish, and now he's forced to go
back to the country that he didn't know the language of. Yeah,
because his parents arrived here and wanted him to assimilate.
And also, you know, this is the time when students
were being hit for speaking Spanish. So she had before,

(30:42):
you know, when the children were little, she their mom
had always told them to try and hide their Mexican
identity in case of like deportation, because they were lighter
skinned Mexicans. So she would tell them to say they
were from Russia to see if that like saved them.
And he remembers his mom being worried all the time,
and he said, I think it made her sick. And

(31:04):
as a boy, he decided he wouldn't let these type
like immigration worry and let fear take over his life.
But now, and this is from the article, these days,
with the threat of another Massy pretation looming, he worries
more than ever about his family and many others who
might be jeopardized. When was he interviewed or oh September, Oh,

(31:27):
this is year. Oh my god, he said, I'm kind
of becoming like my mom. Oh. And then he said,
last year, at a family reunion, he learned for the
first time that some of his relatives here in the
US were Trump supporters. Dude, so he joined the club. Yeah,

(31:48):
he was at a family reunion, right like a party,
and he brought out his binder of art that advocated
for migrants. Because also he has done me girls at
Chicano Park. No way, I probably saw some of them. Yeah,
I forgot what year, nineteen ninety nine or something like that.
He moved back to the US and he went to

(32:10):
San Diego, and yeah, he has done work at Chicano Park,
and so he was showing his family members this art
that advocates for migrants, and some of his family younger
family members scoffed at his art. Oh, said supporters, And
he was like, what a bunch of assholes? What? And
they excuse me? Yeah, you said, I through. Yeah, do

(32:33):
they like? Do they do? They right? Like? My god?
He was an American citizen deported back to Mexico, and
they told him that they supported Trump because he would
do more to lower their Texas If I hear that again,
also one more time, like you don't even you're not

(32:54):
even under you know, you don't make enough money to
worry about this. Come on. Yeah, and he said the following,
I can't believe that these are second generation Mexicans siding
with Trump. Yeah, if it's happening with my family, I'm
sure it's happening all over. Mm hmm. You see, Senor,
it is and it's depressing. But like he literally went

(33:16):
through deportation and these people to his face, his own family,
to his face, Yeah, said this to him. I was floored,
and that's why I wanted to include it. Wow. This
is another account. In the spring of nineteen fifty four,
alro Ra Sandoval was home with six of her children
in southern Texas when authorities knocked on her door. They

(33:36):
asked for proof that she had permission to live in
the US. She was actually married to an American, but
she hadn't filed like paperwork to gain permanent residency. And
I think it's just one of one of those things
you're like, i'll do leader, I'll do leaders. Yeah, So
officers took her into custody and let her bring the
youngest child because that baby was being breastfed the old

(34:00):
This eight year old was left on her own to
watch the rest of the kids until their dad returned home.
There was no way of notifying, oh my god, the husband.
And her husband was a farmhand who worked alongside Mexican migrants,
but again he was American. Days after the whole family
left to Tijuana to like go and find her and

(34:22):
be reunited with her. And over the several next several years,
one of the kids remembers what's his name, Jack Sanchez.
He remembers struggling with being in a new country and
a new language. He was bullied and called gringo because
he didn't, of course he was what happens, It is
what happens, Like yeah he was, he would be bullied

(34:46):
and call the some racist slurter, and then over there
it has gone American. Yeah, and that's why sometimes I
would not Now I think now I'm like a little
more okay with this kind of belief. But like a
few years ago, I hated like the Nevakini that, yeah,
I'm like this is so dumb, Like I think for me,
it's true, it just overused, Like yeah, at this point,

(35:07):
it's like I don't think it should be a relation
revelation to anyone, like yeah, you know, like it's not Yeah,
you should already know this. Yeah, yeah, you know what
I know. Okay, when TikTok, when I started getting on TikTok,
I see videos of like these emotional videos with like
an image and then a quote saying like oh my god,

(35:27):
I've realized like I'm not from here order And it's
like you're you're realizing that now, how old are you?
And it's like I'm thirty year old. On TikTok, I'm like,
come on, yeah, you should realize this when you watch
Selena the movie, But even before that, you should have
realized it on your first trip to Mexico. Yeah yeah,
or the first party when your theos make fun of
you for never for something yeah something. Yeah. So anyway, yeah,

(35:51):
he was called gettingo a local children made fun of
his broken Spanish. The tapwater made him sick for months
because he wasn't used to it. He actually returned at
fourteen in the US with other families because he was
born yeah, you know, but and also he's actually he
grew up to be an immigration attorney, attorney and learned

(36:13):
that I can't say that attorney. Yeah, but like it's difficult,
like it's you're splitting up families, extended families, sometimes immediate families.
But also these children that like there lie their lives
are being uprooted because of the year that this all

(36:34):
happened in they were forced one way or another to
not learn Spanish and now they're back in Mexico where
they don't know. You know, it's it's fucked up. And
now you have literal children of immigrants or immigrants themselves
advocating for Trump. Yeah, it's ridiculous, honestly, absolutely so. So

(37:00):
overall the official number was like a million quote unquote returns,
so deportations. Although this a lot of people returned and
were deported again, so those were counted again. And also
all the people that fled on their own were counted
in this number. But again this number is probably exaggerated,
and like really it was probably half of that, but

(37:24):
it's still a lot, right. The total number of sweeps
fell through the years until like it just very like
much declined in nineteen sixty two. And then despite the
decline in like, the numbers of people being deported a
board patrol doubled find nineteen sixty two. Now they're like

(37:44):
a whole army, right, yeah. And also in nineteen sixty
two they were given an additional plane to use, and
around this time, like funding for the program began to
rn dry. It cost more money to do all this
than to just leave the Mexican here. Side note of course,
y I, but the government called Operation went Back a

(38:06):
success instead of the border had been secured. But we
all know that it wasn't because our parents are here, right.
Immigration didn't stop, and it has not supped, and it won't.
And you know what, I saw a tweet the other
day that was like, yeah, I'm pro immigrant, let them
all in. I don't give a fuck or something, and
it's like me, yeah, let them all in. Same. Close

(38:26):
the border, shut down, oh sorry, open the border, destroy
the border so that there's no more border. That's what
I meant. Yes, not close it close in the sense of,
like stop militarizing it and just let everyone in. That's
what's right, right, right. People used to go back and forth,

(38:49):
you know. Oh yeah, I mean our grandpa made a
trip here, our grandma made a trip. Yeah, it went
back yep. So yeah, as we know, immigrations did not stop.
So and was it really a success? No? No, no.

(39:11):
In two thousand and six, congressional representatives in La Soliz
and Luis Gutierres introduced a bill calling for a commission
to study the Mexican reprayteation Oh my god, patriation. Yes,
thank you, yeah, and called for an apology, and the

(39:32):
state of California did apologize for passing the or Sorry.
They apologized in two thousand and five by passing the
Apology Act for the nineteen thirties Mexican Repra Creation Program,
which officially recognized the unconstitutional removal and coerce immigration of
United States citizens and legal residents of Mexican descent, and

(39:53):
they apologized to residents of California for the fundamental violations
of their basic civil liberties and constitutional rights Committe during
the period of a legal depersation and coerce immigration official words,
but no reparations were ever given to the victims. Was good.
The La County also showed an apology in twenty twelve

(40:13):
and they installed the memorial at the site of one
of the first citi's immigration raids, which we have covered,
the Placita Olvera raid. And I saw the memorial. It's beautiful,
Mammy and I sat there reading the names and cried
while my children tried to run off and they ruined
that moment because they had to go chase them. Of course. Yeah,
he came crying like you wanted to. No, we couldn't

(40:36):
have the emotional, real emotional reaction to be in there.
But it is a yeah. You get a type of
feeling there, like we should go again. It's in front
of the Union station, right, I think there was a
train around there. It was in front of a church.
Oh yeah, yes, yeah, there was the station and a

(40:56):
train and then the whole yeah street, and then you
walk through Pera you turn and then that's where the
church and the memorial are at. I was there last
year for Bestami Mucho. We took the shuttle from Union
Station to the Dodger Stadium, but you know, we were
in the rush and you're like trying to get there,

(41:17):
and so I didn't get to like see it. But
another one of our friends was talking about it and
she's like, oh, yeah, my mom, I don't know who
took us there. And I was like, what the hell
is this? It's like not even cool. And I was like,
shut I loved it. We were walking through it, we
were like, the only thing is that we thought it
was bigger. Yeah, but it is a small actually, I
think that's what she was saying. She was like, it's
smaller than I thought. Yeah, that's what Mammy said too,

(41:39):
and I did. I was like, you're right, I did
think it was bigger too, but it is. It's cute. Unfortunately,
there's a lot of like you know, businesses that are
like not open, yeah, because it's so expensive. And we
talked about it in the episode. Yeah, but the memorial
it's a for sure worth trip to look at. But yeah,

(42:01):
and then there's still no apology for Operation Wetback. As
far as I know, I couldn't find one for any
information on it. Also, the Mexican reprey. Why can't I
say this word? I don't know what's wrong with you?
Right now? Patriation Act and Operation Wetback are hardly taught
in US schools today. I know I didn't learn the

(42:23):
only reason I learned about the Repatriation Act. First of all,
we after what third grade, we went to charge the schools,
and I want to say, I can't remember what grade
I was in that they had Exponanta Rising and I
read it and that's when I learned about the Repatriation Act.
I think it was the eighth grade. Oh, I thought
it was sooner than that. Well anyway, our school, no,
my bad, sixth grade. Oh, I don't know. The fifth

(42:46):
grade maybe, but I feel like our schools were kind
of more like they taught more. It was fifth grade
because it was Dolserta. Oh really we were there. I
don't even remember where we were. I just I read
the book in Jefferson, for sure. But that's when I
learned about that, and never about Operation what Yeah. Yeah,
And it's something so prevalent right now, it really is.

(43:09):
And that's literally what Asperanza Rising. I think we talked.
What episode did we talk about it in? Well Wes
the Repatriation Act in the episode. Also there was another
episode we did sort of about that. Yeah, oh the school, yes,
discrimination once because it was around that same time, and

(43:30):
that's why they were being discriminated against and being sent
to segregated schools was during this time also, Yes, So
we talked about it then. And I feel like you're
gonna see something else. Oh, I was gonna say, and
we said it already in one of those episodes. But
that's what Experanza Rising is about, and that she ends
up back in you know, they lose everything they go,

(43:52):
they end up deported during the Great Depression, right yeah, yeah, yeah,
and so they used to be rich and now she's
poor and they'll make fun of her in Mexico. Yeah.
And yeah, it's a good book. It really does. So,
I mean I still I still remember it now from then. Yeah,
and this is the only other ones I remember is
the box car series, Goosebumps of course, and the Series

(44:15):
of Unfortunate Events and Harry Potter. I feel like I
read that a little bit later though, but yeah, oh,
were you not reading them when I was reading them?
Or what? Uh? My great teacher gave me the reason.
I feel like I associated with the little olders because
I didn't finish the series till later. We were older
when when the last one came out, we were seniors

(44:36):
or juniors. I don't think so, I don't know me neither. Anyway,
it does that matters, None of that matters. The point
of this is that it's not taught in school still,
and this is why people are dumb. No, no, just kidding,
but yeah, purposely, I feel like it's purposely omitted in
the sense that in the sense no, but in the

(44:57):
sense that no. But really, if it is taught in
high school, there's four like paragraphs dedicated to both. And
sometimes it's just a Mexican Repatriation Act and not even
Operation Wetback. Yeah, but they don't. There's a reason why, Like,
you know, let's say Arizona for a while, I don't

(45:19):
remember how long ago, but they had they were trying
to make it take out Mexican Mexican American studies out
of high school education. And I mean all of that
is for a reason that they don't want people to
learn their history. And people walked out of schools, people
processed it protested in high numbers to learn Mexican American

(45:43):
studies because like it or not, how many Mexican American
students are there? And say in the most obviously areywhere,
but in the most populated states like California, Arizona, Texas,
like we need to these things need to be taught.
Maybe if these students learned, maybe if the family members
of the person I mentioned his story about being supported

(46:05):
during Operation Wetback, maybe if they had learned about how
horrible it was and how many Mexicans died in the desert, right,
maybe they wouldn't support Trump today, right, And how can
how can you be so, I don't know, evil to
praise something that killed eighty something people, almost ninety people
plus parts many families summer right right? Yeah, So it's

(46:28):
like anybody who uh supports that, and then anyone who
supports a kind of person that supports that, like, I
don't know, there's something wrong with y'all. Yeah, yeah, I'm yeah,
that's and that's why I wanted to like talk about

(46:50):
this today now because of my Yeah, this is this
shit is making headlines again. It's gonna he's going to
be a president next starting next year, yeah, so, and
it's important. This is like, this is not opinionated, like
so you know, obviously some of the things we said

(47:11):
were like our opinion was certain, this happened. This, Yes,
this happened as many people were supported, including citizens. People died,
so yeah, it is real, it happened. So just to
add that on. But yeah, that is the the end
of the episode. All right, we need final thoughts about this? No,
I think I shared everything throughout you didn't, okay, yeah,

(47:34):
do you have an anything thoughts? No? I just wanted
to think every one who has interacted with our social media.
We got a few comments on a few of our posts. Yes,
that's always fun, and then our Patreon shoutouts. Should we
do those now? Yeah? Yeah, we just recorded our second

(47:55):
Patreon got our episode where we talked about the instead
are sadly still relevant just like today. Yeah, we talked
about the quote unquote Latino vote. If anyone wants to
give the Patreon membership to someone that you think would
like like the Patreon, that would be fun or you know,

(48:17):
support the podcast, but like can't you can give like
a month or two if you want whatever. Also, if
you are thinking about joining Patreon, I mean you have
an iPhone. Oh my god, I canna talk an iPhone.
Don't do it through the Apple Store because they charge more.

(48:38):
Just go to the website. Use like you're in your
phone browser and go to patreon dot com. Don't use
your like what is it the Apple Store? Is that
what it's called? I don't know when you get sorry,
I'm trying to log on. Oh okay, I think I
logged on. Oh cool, Okay, thank you to our Patreon

(48:59):
member Mariah, Michelle, Chatta and JG and Doesrey. Yes, thank
you so much. And yeah, that's it for this episode.
I feel it was in the season, but maybe not.
Were you gonna say anything else? No? I guess not. Okay, okay,

(49:24):
I still have the sends stickers out to I've only
sent one to Chatta. I think so well. But yeah,
we hope that this was one less Estonia Unknown. Thanks
for listening. No, that's the other way around. Hey, we're
ranking very well in Norway. That's surprising. Where'd you see that?

(49:45):
An email? What the hell? Yeah? It says hello, how's
it going? Hope all as well? I hope I have
some cool information that might interest you. Your podcast he
studies Unknown has good performance in Apple podcast rankings in
Norway and it says the worse sixty four in the
category of history in Norway. Who is listening in Norway? Also,
someone I'm from podstatus I don't know today is that

(50:08):
data's provided by podstatus dot com. Oh and Poland we're
two forty and Angola we're on seventy seven. Where is Angola? Okay,
I knew it. It's in Africa. Oh, good job knowing things. Damn. Oh,
I was gonna say before we go. If you want

(50:29):
to keep up with the podcast, like if we miss
an episode, we will update it on Instagram. We're not
on Twitter. We have a Twitter account that I used
to use, but since Elan took over, I hardly use
it and I'm not logging in anymore now. Oh on Twitter? Yeah,
Instagram is the best place to keep up with the podcast,
like uh oh today we're not We're not really seeing
an episode because blah blah blah. That is where you

(50:51):
find that information. Also, just pictures of what we talk
about are on Instagram. We also use threads quite a bit.
Shout out to anyone who found to threads because some
posts have been going mini viral, Like you know, two
hundred three hundred likes. Pretty cool. Yeah, Threads has been
fun for estorias unknown spokitos sometimes, but I'd like to

(51:11):
use better for EE story as unknown. I'm considering making
a Blue Sky, but I'm like, no, I'm doing too much,
you are, I get obsessed too much to keep track
of I might yeah, so I might not make one.
Then I guess, yeah, you're right, so yeah, just Instagram
and then I do make videos about the things we
talk about on Esterias known on TikTok for yes, spookyel sticktalk,

(51:33):
because I'm not making anyone it is too much. Yeah,
so yeah, that's where you can keeping keep up with us. Basically,
so what I'm what you're say saying, Yeah, yeah, okay,
and other than that, this is the now we're done.
Now we're done. So yeah, thanks for listening, and we
hope that this is one less historiaunknown for you. Yes,

(51:57):
my and

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

24/7 News: The Latest

Dateline NBC

The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Operation Wetback