"We'll send the whole family": Trump's deportation plans echo depression-era "repatriation" schemes

[marmar]

(Salon) President-elect Donald Trump’s recent promise to deport entire families of undocumented immigrants — including those who are American citizens — harkens back to “repatriation” programs of the 1930s, which were used to attempt to pressure Mexican Americans, including Mexican citizens, into leaving the country voluntarily.

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While most of the follow-up reporting and commentary on Trtump’s appearance has focused on his promise to challenge the constitutional right of birthright citizenship via executive order, Trump’s plans to remove whole families from the United States, including those citizens, may have greater historical precedent.

In the 1930s, during President Herbert Hoover’s administration, states like California and Colorado undertook so-called “repatriation” programs during a wave of xenophobia that erupted during the Great Depression.

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Through these repatriation schemes, states were able to increase the number of Mexican Americans they removed. According to the Department of Homeland Security, there were roughly 105,000 official deportations from 1929 to 1933. However, estimates of the total number of people removed are much higher. .............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2024/12/10/well-send-the-whole-family-trumps-deportation-plans-echo-depression-era-repatriation-schemes/