This is an adapted excerpt from the Jan. 18 episode of “The Katie Phang Show.”
At a Turning Point USA event last December, President-elect Donald Trump told the crowd that “on my first day back in the Oval Office, I will sign a historic slate of executive orders to close our border to illegal aliens and stop the invasion of our country. And on that same day, we will begin the largest deportation operation in American history, larger even than that of Dwight D. Eisenhower.”
When Trump promises to surpass President Eisenhower’s deportations, it’s important to understand the historical context of what he’s threatening to do.
When the U.S. entered World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt worked with Mexico to create the Bracero program, providing legal short-term Mexican labor to American employers like farms and railroad companies.
But by the early ’50s, American soldiers returning from the war were looking for work, and Mexican workers were vilified for stealing so-called American jobs.
A congressional investigation later described one such boat as a ‘penal hell ship’ and compared it to a slave ship.
In response, Eisenhower launched America’s largest mass deportation in 1954, named with a racist slur: “Operation Wetback.” The operation was led by Border Patrol head Harlon B. Carter, who, as a teenager in 1931, was found guilty of murdering a 15-year-old Hispanic boy (the conviction was later thrown out on a technicality).
Carter used military-style tactics to round up Mexicans without due process, giving them no chance to notify their families. Some were shoved into trucks and dumped in unfamiliar towns across the border. In one instance, 88 deportees died after being left in the desert in 112-degree heat. In Texas, a quarter of those deported were crammed onto boats. A congressional investigation later described one such boat as a “penal hell ship” and compared it to a slave ship.
After seeing these mass deportations, American farmers — still in need of a cheap workforce — used the Bracero program to expand legal immigration for these migrant workers. This ultimately led to a decrease in illegal immigration. Nonetheless the government claimed over 1.3 million people had been deported and that the monthslong operation was a “success,” saying “the so-called ‘wetback’ problem no longer exists” and that “the border has been secured.” But historians say the number of people who were actually deported was more like 300,000 — a fraction of the 1.3 million the government claimed — which included an unknown number of American citizens. This is what Trump is reportedly using as a model for his deportation plan. Stephanie Brumsey contributed.
Katie S. Phang
Katie S. Phang is the host of "The Katie Phang Show," which airs Saturdays at 12 p.m. ET on MSNBC. She is a legal contributor for NBC News and MSNBC based in Miami. She leverages her significant trial attorney experience to provide analysis and commentary on the latest legal issues.
Latest Post
Recommended
