Mexican "Wetbacks" Wait Deportation in Crowded Camps (1956)
McAllen, Texas, Sept. 14—(UP) The Mexican "wetbacks" camps, in the State of Texas, are overflowing with laborers while the authorities decide the best method for their repatriation.
In this town's camp only, there are about one thousand Mexicans who entered the U.S. illegally and it is understood that the other camps of the frontier are also completely full.
The authorities of four Mexican ports have received orders from the Mexican Navy not to allow the landing of those deported by sea.
The transport of the deportees by ship has been subjected to severe criticism by Congressman Robert Hollohan, of West Virginia and by other members of Congress. Hollohan stated that the laborers are deported in ships that are worse than "Slaves Galleys."
Last month five of the workers drowned during a disorder aboard one of these ships, the "Mercury," near Tampico.
George Harrison, Inspector of the Frontier Guards in the McAllen region said that it is not known until when the order against using ships will remain in force and that it is possible that, meanwhile, the workers will be deported by rail.
The order received by the authorities of Veracruz, Tampico, Coatzacoalcos and Frontera, from the Mexican Government against the use of ships will remain in force until the hurricane season ends.
- Title
- Mexican "Wetbacks" Wait Deportation in Crowded Camps (1956)
- Description
- Operation Wetback is the racially offensive name given to a publicized 1954 summer campaign by the U.S. Border Patrol designed to apprehend and deport Mexican nationals who were in the U.S. illegally. Although it is often reported that over one million people were apprehended under the program, that number is actually from the previous fiscal year. During the fiscal year of which Operation Wetback was a part of, approximately 250,000 deportations were reported. The operation was a part of a policy of removal of Mexicans and Mexican-Americans begun during the Great Depression. This newspaper article describes the deplorable conditions of the deportation camps and ships.
- Date
- 1956-09-15
- Document Type
- Newspaper
- Document Category
- Primary Source
- Bibliographic Citation
- Diario Las Américas (Miami, Fla.), September 15, 1956
- Digital Repository
- Chronicling America
- Title
- Mexican "Wetbacks" Wait Deportation in Crowded Camps (1956)
- Description
- Operation Wetback is the racially offensive name given to a publicized 1954 summer campaign by the U.S. Border Patrol designed to apprehend and deport Mexican nationals who were in the U.S. illegally. Although it is often reported that over one million people were apprehended under the program, that number is actually from the previous fiscal year. During the fiscal year of which Operation Wetback was a part of, approximately 250,000 deportations were reported. The operation was a part of a policy of removal of Mexicans and Mexican-Americans begun during the Great Depression. This newspaper article describes the deplorable conditions of the deportation camps and ships.
- Date
- 1956-09-15
- Document Type
- Newspaper
- Document Category
- Primary Source
- Bibliographic Citation
- Diario Las Américas (Miami, Fla.), September 15, 1956
- Digital Repository
- Chronicling America