The Mexican American Experience, a radio program produced by the Longhorn Radio Network, includes interviews, music, and informational programs related to the Mexican American community and their concerns. Program summary: Host Richard Goodman discusses the mass deportations and repatriations of Mexicans during the Great Depression. In the aftermath of the stock market crash, Mexicans of all nationalities were considered and subsequently treated as undesirable aliens subject to deportation. In the early years of the Depression, many returned to Mexico voluntarily. Yet by 1931, private and public welfare organizations began organizing campaigns to deport Mexicans, who they felt occupied jobs that should be held by those born in the U.S. Secretary of Labor William Doak organized many sensational raids and local citizen groups offered to help the federal government deport immigrants. In Los Angeles, the immigration bureau, with the help of the police and sherrif's department, organized several raids, that often arrested Mexicans who were in the U.S. legally. Moreover, many of those detained were denied counsel and other rights. Eventually, the Bureau of Immigration shifted to other less sensational tactics, but they continued to pursue and deport immigrants. Their efforts dramatically reduced Mexican communities in many northern states, while states like Texas and California lost large portions of their Spanish-speaking population. Goodman concludes that this period created a long-lasting sense of alienation among Mexican Americans. This episode is based on research from Abraham Hoffman's Unwanted Mexican Americans in the Great Depression. Keywords: Abraham Hoffman, Bakersfield, California, Bureau of Immigration, Charles Visel, Col. Arthur Woods, Consuls, Deportation Campaigns, Deportations, Discrimination, Ethnic Alienation, Herbert Hoover, Ignacio Bautista, Illegal Alien, Illinois, Immigrant Rights, Immigration Policy, Immigration Quotas, Immigration Raids, Indiana, Liberals, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Citizens Committee on Coordination of Unemployment Relief, Mexican Consul, Mexico, Michigan, National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement, Nativism, Ohio, Police, Police and immigration, President's Emergency Committee for Employment, Private welfare organizations, Public Relief, Racism, Relief Rolls, Repatriation, Sheriff, Southern California, Stock market crash, Texas, Unemployment, Unwanted Mexican Americans in the Great Depression, Visas, Voluntary repatriation, Welfare, William Doak, William Walkins. Broadcast date: 1977-02-15.
Creator/Contributor:
Longhorn Radio Network (creator) and Goodman, Richard (host)
Date Created/Date Issued:
2/14/1977
Owning Repository:
Benson Latin American Collection, LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and Collections, The University of Texas at Austin