Topics on the Page
Current Facts and Historical Overview
The Border
Historical Chronology and Important Developments
- Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819
- Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 1848
- Mexican Immigrants and the California Gold Rush
- Las Gorras Blancas, 1889-1891
- Mexican Railroad Laborers, 1900
- Bath Riots, 1917
- Mexican Repatriation, 1930s & 1940s
- Operation Wetback, 1954
- The Secure Fence Act, 2006
- Trump's Build a Wall Speech, 2021
- Operation Lone Star, 2021
- DeSantis' Anti-Illegal Immigration Legislation, 2023
Cross Link: The Latino Civil Rights Movement
Current Facts and Historical Overview
Timeline of U.S.- Mexican Relations (by Council on Foreign Relations)
Time Article about History of Mexican Immigration to US
Photos and information about the US- Mexican Border from National Geographic
Mexican Immigration in the United States, Migration Policy Institute
- In 2014, there were 11.7 million Mexican immigrants in the United States
- China and India now provide more immigrants to the United States than Mexico
- Link to chart showing Mexican-Born Population Over Time, 1850 to 2015
5 Facts About Mexico and Immigration to the U. S., Pew Research Center (February 11, 2016)
More Mexican Immigrants Leaving the U.S. Than Entering, Report Finds, the New York Times (November 19, 2015)
The History of Mexican Immigration to the U.S. in the early 20th Century, Library of Congress
Uneasy Neighbors: A Brief History of Mexican-U.S. Migration, Harvard Magazine (May/June 2007)
Hoover, Truman and Ike: Mass Deporters? from FactCheck.org (July 2010)
- Refutes a false claim that 13 million people were deported under these Presidential administrations
The Impact of Mexican Maternal Migration on Children’s Future Ambitions
First Person Accounts of People who Crossed the Border Illegally
- Stories from individuals who crossed the border and the difficulties they face as being illegal immigrants
- Mother's story of crossing the border and getting caught
The Border
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| Tijuana, Mexico, right, and San Diego, California |
The Changing Mexico-U.S. Border, from Worlds Revealed: Geography and Maps, Library of Congress
The U.S.-Mexico Border: Under the Economic Lens and in the Historical Frame
United States-Mexico Borderlands, Smithsonian Education
Interactive Map from National Geographic
The Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819
Primary source document of President Polk's Call on Congress to Declare War on Mexico- Includes an annotation about the document to give context to the time period and prior events leading up to the call for war.
Interactive PBS website about US- Mexican War
- Many lesson plans and resources to use in classes for themes surrounding the U.S.- Mexican war, including investigations into Manifest Destiny, media's impact on the war and the public's perceptions of the war, songs of the war and the legacy of the war. Includes many primary sources, newspapers and illustrations and videos.
This video chronicles the history of Mexican immigration into the United States from post WWII https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7PUnuTh5tM
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848)
- Granted citizenship to Mexicans living in territory ceded to the U.S. by Mexico after the Mexican War
Mexican Immigrants and California Gold Rush
- Dramatic Event Page: The California and Alaska Gold Rush
Las Gorras Blancas (The White Caps)
- A group of Mexican-Americans living in New Mexico protesting against Anglo-Americans that moved into and took their land following the Homestead Act in 1862.
- Las Gorras Blancas rebelled against the Anglo-Americans that were taking their lands by cutting the fences and barbed wire the Anglo- Americans put up to enclose and claim lands. This poster was created to commemorate this group.
Mexican Railroad Laborers (1900)
- U.S. railroad companies actively recruited Mexican workers to help build railroads after the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act limited the Asian worker supply
- Estimated that 60 percent of railroad workers at the turn of the century were Mexicans
The Bath Riots of 1917: Crossing the US-Mexican Border
Image: https://nomasep.com/
Carmelita Torres, known only from the newspapers as “an auburn haired amazon”, was 17 years old when she led women in anti-American rioting that shut down the US-Mexican border.
- Her protesting uncovers the story of the US campaign of disinfection and discrimination at the border. The Mexican revolution was ongoing from 1910-1920 and the US entrance into WWI was heightening fears of invasion.
- Fueled by fear and the Eugenics movement (attempt to create a genetically and morally superior population), the stereotype of Mexicans as unclean and inferior led to forced fumigations of Mexican immigrants at the US border.
- Contract laborers were forced to endure these inspections often as they crossed the border for work. Carmelita Torres defied the order to bathe and led a revolt of women against the toxic baths, inspections, and sexual humiliations on January 28, 1917.
Watch, listen, and read to learn more about the US fumigations of Mexican immigrants at the border and about Carmelita Torres as a strong protest leader and what earned her the comparison as “the Rosa Parks of the border”.
https://www.npr.org/2006/01/28/5176177/the-bath-riots-indignity-along-the-mexican-border
The dark history of "gasoline baths" at the border
Mexican Repatriation: Mass Deportations of the 1930s and 1940s
- During the Great Depression an estimated 1 million Mexicans nationals and American citizens of Mexican descent were forced to leave the United States (60 percent of whom were U.S. citizens)
- For more, see America's Forgotten History of Mexican-American Repatriation, from NPR Fresh Air (September 10, 2015)
- As well as The U.S. Deported a Million of Its Own Citizens to Mexico During the Great Depression from History.com
- An article by the United States INS about the repatriations.
Primary source newspaper articles from the repatriation
Operation Wetback (1954)
- 1 million Mexicans were deported or departed under threat of deportation
- Lasted only a few months/discontinued after drownings on ships being used to transport people was protested by the Mexican government
- Go here for background on Operation Wetback targeting Mexican immigrants
- Here is a video about Operation Wetback with Professor Miguel Levario.
The Secure Fence Act (2006)
Fact Sheet on the Secure Fence Act, Bush White House Archives
- 700 miles of fencing completed in 2007
- Estimated cost $2.8 million per mile
Fact-Check: Did Top Democrats Vote for a Border Wall in 2006? Politifact (April 23, 2017)
National Labor Relations Board and Mexican Foreign Ministry Sign Letter of Agreement (2013)
- Provides access to information and education regarding rights and responsibilities for Mexican workers and their employers
Mexican American Migrations and Communities, Primary Sources from the Library of Congress
Trump's Build a Wall Speech and Texas, 2016:
- In Trump's 2016 campaign he promised to "build a wall" on the Mexican American border to keep out illegal immigrants
- In January 2017, President Trump signed Executive Order 13767, which formally directed the U.S. government to begin wall construction along the U.S.–Mexico border
- Click here to read Trump's speech
- 2023 had the highest record of migrant encounters at the border read more here
Operation Lone Star, 2021:
- Texas Believes the border crisis should be controlled by state not federally
- Governor Greg Abbott launched Operation Lone Star, deploying the Texas National Guard and Texas Department of Public Safety to the southern border.
- learn more here from the Texas government website
DeSantis' Anti-Illegal Immigration Legislation, 2023:
- Senate Bill 1718
- Florida Governor bans Illegal Immigrants from getting ID's
- Penalties for those employing illegal aliens
- Penalties for those who help with smuggling
- Hospitals must inform the state of health care cost of illegal immigrants
- learn more here from the Florida government website
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Quiz Question: The Obama administration deported more Mexican immigrants than all other presidents of the 20th century combined?
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Answer: True- During the Obama administration 2.5 million Mexican immigrants were deported from the United States, as a result the number of Mexicans leaving the United States has been greater than those entering since 2009.