Author(s) Information

Aaron ZiskinFollow

Department - Author 1

History Department

Degree Name - Author 1

BA in History

Date

6-2015

Primary Advisor

Sarah Bridger

Abstract/Summary

Shortly following the onset of the Great Depression America undertook a policy coined as Mexican Repatriation wherein it began encouraging people of Mexican descent to return home in order to free up jobs for 'actual' American citizens. This Policy touched countless people as it was broadly applied to anyone of the Mexican race, however as American influence in World War II increased it began facing a worker shortage. In response to this shortage America and Mexico devised a program which allowed for Mexican laborers to be imported for temporary farm and manual labor positions. The focus of this paper involves both of these issues as it looks to analyze the unique social context and conditions that allowed for the hasty return of a race that had been targeted by the American public as a problem and deported only decades before.

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