California Apologizes for the Mexican Repatriation in the 1930s

On Sunday, Califonia Senate Bill 670 – the so-called “Apology Act for the 1930s Mexican Repatriation Program” – becomes official. It acknowledges the suffering of tens of thousands of Latino families unjustly forced out of the Golden State that was their home. “The state of California apologizes . . . for the fundamental violations of their basic civil liberties and constitutional rights during the period of illegal deportation and coerced emigration,” the act reads. For a story about the apology, see http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/story/14021428p-14853951c.html

The apology came after hearings before a special committee of the Califonia State legislature and the hard work of many activists and legislatiors, including Califonia Senator Joe Dunn. The famous book on the repatriation, Decade of Betrayal: Mexican Repatriation in the 1930s, by Francisco Balderrama and Ray Rodriguez. Unfortunatyely, many people have not heard of the forced removal of approximately one million persons – U.S. citizens as well as noncitizens – of Mexican ancestry from the United States during the Great Depression. This is true despite the fact that the number of repatriates dwarfed by about ten-fold the number of persons of Japanese ancestry who were interned by the United States government during World War II. The invisibility of the repatriation is entirely consistent with the general invisibility of Latina/o civil rights deprivations throughout much of U.S. history.

The repatriation campaign of the 1930s had a long and enduring impact on Mexican-Americans in this country. In a time of severe national economic crisis, the deportation campaign sought to save jobs for true “Americans” and reduce the welfare rolls, by encouraging Mexicans to “voluntarily” leave the country. An economic threat had placed the nation’s future in jeopardy, caused severe economic distress for many U.S. citizens, and effectively compelled government to act. A discrete and insular minority, the most available and vulnerable target, suffered from the government’s policy choices. This tragic episode is well worth remembering as the United States continues to engage in a “war on terror” in response to the horrible loss of life on September 11, 2001. This “war” has targeted Arab and Muslim noncitizens suspected of no crime and subjected them to special immigration procedures, arrest, detention, and deportation from the United States.

In criticism of the government’s responses to the tragic events of September 11, the specter of the internment of the persons of Japanese ancestry during World War II has often been invoked. The analogy is apt in important ways, with racial profiling based on statistical probabilities at the core of the government policies adopted in both incidents. At least in my estimation, however, the repatriation of the 1930s also has modern relevance in evaluating the measures taken by the U.S. government in the name of national security after September 11. This paper draws out the historic and legal parallels between these two episodes in U.S. legal history and suggests that the nation should pay heed to the excesses of the past in considering its practices and policies in the “war on terror.”

For more on the repatriation, be on the lookout for a soon-to-be published lecture on the topic in the Pace Law Review. A short while back, I described the efforts to bring redress to the repatriates in International Human Rights Class Actions: New Frontiers for Group Litigation, 2004 Mich. St. L. Rev. 643.

For a copy of the Apology Act, see http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/bill/sen/sb_0651-0700/sb_670_bill_20051007_chapte  Thanks to the ever-vigilant Dan Kowalski for the link.red.html

KJ