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Mexican-American wife standing with her hand on the shoulder of her seated Punjabi husband.

The “Mexican-Hindus” of Rural California

Anti-Asian immigration restrictions led male Punjabi farm workers in California to marry Mexican and Mexican American women, creating new cultural bonds.
A family of Greek immigrants disembarking on Ellis Island.

For We Were Strangers in the Land of America

Comparing the struggles of Mexican and Greek immigrants to the United States.
The cover of Dunbar-Ortiz's book alongside a picture of Mexican workers awaiting entry into the U.S.
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The Border and the Contingent Status of Mexican Workers

An excerpt from the most recent book, "Not 'A Nation of Immigrants': Settler Colonialism, White Supremacy, and a History of Erasure and Exclusion."
Migrants holding their shoes, being inspected.

America's Forgotten History Of Mexican-American 'Repatriation'

During the Depression, more than a million people of Mexican descent were deported. Author Francisco Balderrama says that most were American citizens.
A group of Mexican nationals boarding a bus for repatriation to Mexico from the United States.
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Scared Out of the Community

In the 1930s, approximately half a million Mexicans left the United States. Many families had American-born children to whom Mexico was a foreign land.
Mexican immigrants huddled in a cage during Operation Wetback.

Trump's Deportation Model

A 1950s mass deportation campaign shows that abuse and dehumanization are intrinsic to immigrant detention.
Migrants, a family of Mexicans, on the road with tire trouble in California in 1936.

Over 1 Million Were Deported to Mexico Nearly 100 Years Ago. Most of Them Were US Citizens.

A new California bill would commemorate 'a dark part of our American history' known as the Mexican 'repatriation' of the 1930s.
A U.S. Border Patrol officer shows how he found an undocumented Mexican immigrant under the hood of a car along the U.S.-Mexican border in March 1954.

Trump Promises to Deport All Undocumented Immigrants, Resurrecting a 1950s Strategy

Donald Trump says he will authorize a roundup of all 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country. A 1950s program with similar goals offers lessons.
Mexican American men standing near a mural and a low rider car in Chicago in 1987.

The Past and Future of Mexican Chicago

From the machine politicians in La Villita to the radicals in Pilsen, Mexican Chicagoans have played a central role in defining their city. 
Farmers working in an orchard.
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The Unlikely Supporters of a Bill That Would Increase Guest Workers

The history of guest worker programs should give pause to supporters of the Farm Workforce Modernization Act.
Disinfection plant at Santa Fe Street International Bridge

From Bath Riots to Blocking Asylum

Public heath and race at the US-Mexico border.
A border sign

Borders Don’t Stop Violence—They Create It

The “border” is not a line on the ground, but a tool that enables violence and surveillance.
A Border Patrol agent stands by an opening in the U.S. Mexico Border wall.
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Trump’s Border Wall Belongs to Biden Now

A border policy divorced from history can’t do what policymakers want.
Artwork depicting The Statue of Liberty's back.

America Never Wanted the Tired, Poor, Huddled Masses

The U.S. is a diverse nation of immigrants—but it was not intended to be, and its historical biases continue to haunt the present.
A view looking up at the Statue of Liberty

Immigration: What We’ve Done, What We Must Do

Once, abolitionists had to imagine a world without slavery. Can we similarly envision a world where migrants are offered justice?
Walkout participants in East LA in 1968.

The Long History of Mexican-American Radicalism

Mexican-American workers have a long tradition of radical organizing, stretching back to the days of the IWW and the mid-century Communist Party.
Photo of an interracial couple

On California’s Eugenicist Past

Jane Dailey considers the power of the law to reinforce racism.
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Migrant Detention Centers Have a Long History of Medical Neglect and Abuse

The link between medical abuse, racism and immigration runs deep.

How Nativism Went Mainstream

Three decades ago, California was the launchpad for a virulent strain of anti-immigrant politics that soon spread nationwide.
Mexican tenor Alfonso Ortiz Tirado, La Prensa publisher Ignacio Lozano, and Hollywood actor Antonio Moreno before a performance to benefit the Mexican Clinic in San Antonio

How Three Texas Newspapers Manufactured Three Competing Images of Immigrants

In Depression-era San Antonio, polarized portraits of Mexicans appealed to the biases of readers.

California's Mexican-American History Is Disappearing Beneath White Paint

It’s surprisingly hard to protect beloved public art.

Racism and Politics Forced LA’s Old Mexican Restaurants to Call Themselves ‘Spanish’

The city’s campaign of whitewashing dates to the 1800s.

The Lucky Ones

I told her we were brought over the Rio Grande on a raft. I never called it a smuggling.

How the U.S. Weaponized the Border Wall

The borderlands have “been transformed into a vast graveyard of the missing.”
Border patrol guarding a group of men sitting on the ground.
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A Wall Can’t Solve America’s Addiction to Undocumented Immigration

For more than 70 years, undocumented immigrants have shaped the American economy.
Trump looks at border wall construction prototypes.
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The Hole in Donald Trump’s Wall

As long as Americans continue to flood into Mexico, the wall will do little to deter crossings.

Take an Immigrant’s Journey

Follow the paths of eight immigrants, whose stories are based on real laws and historically documented scenarios.

Fracturing Landscapes: A History of Fences on the U.S.-Mexico Divide

History tells us that Trump's proposed wall will not work, and that it will do more damage than good.

The League of Revolutionary Struggle and the Watsonville Canning Strike

More than anything else, the Watsonville Canning strike was a fight against national oppression.

Today's U.S.-Mexico "Border Crisis' in 6 Charts

Immigration from Mexico is actually decreasing.

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