Presidential and politican history from 1950-1959: on Immigration


Dwight Eisenhower: Operation Wetback: Use military to deport 1.3M Mexicans

In 1954, President Dwight Eisenhower launched Operation Wetback, a shameful initiative to remove (often violently) thousands of undocumented workers--mostly Mexican nationals. In what has been described as a "quasi-military operation", border patrol agents, along with state and local law enforcement methodically targeted Mexican-Americans. The result was widespread fear and abuse.

It is estimated that 4,800 people were apprehended on the first day of the military operation. In the end, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) claimed as many as 1,300,000 were deported--many on their own out of fear. There were reports of beatings. Hundreds of families were torn apart. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Source: Fox News latino.foxnews.com OpEd (1950s History) Mar 29, 2013

  • The above quotations are from News coverage of political history from 1950-1959.
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  • Click here for more quotes by Dwight Eisenhower on Immigration.
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Page last updated: Jun 28, 2023