Mexican Repatriation Statistics: Some Suggested Alternatives to Carey McWilliams

Abstract

uring the years of the Great Depression, an unprecedented number of Mexican immigrants, for a variety of reasons, returned or were returned to Mexico from the United States. This movement, an acceleration of repatriation that dated back to the 1920s, was also spurred by a federal deportation campaign against aliens who had illegally entered the United States. Mexican aliens were especially vulnerable to this campaign because many had entered informally before laws were passed, and they had not regularized their entry.l For many years repatriation, as well as other episodes in Mexican American history, was completely ignored. Not until recently have serious studies begun to come from disciplines other than sociology, anthropology, or education. Because of the dearth of material on Mexican Americans, scholars have been compelled to rely on a select group of published writings for much of the background knowledge and many of the assumptions made about the experiences of Mexicans in the United States. For the phenomenon of repatriation, one of the most quoted sources has been Carey McWilliams, for the past twenty years editor of the Nation and a widely respected journalist. McWilliams, a prolific writer, discussed Mexican repatriation in several of his books dealing with minorities in America. His first observations on the return of Mexicans to Mexico were recorded in an article Abraham Hoffman is an assistant professor of history and curator, Western History Collections, University of Oklahoma. His book on Mexican repatriation, Unwanted Mexican Americans: Repatriation Pressures during the Great Depression is scheduled for publication in 1973 by the University of Arizona Press. 1 Abraham Hoffman, "The Repatriation of Mexican Nationals from the United States during the Great Depression" (Ph.D. dissertation,

The Employment Effects of Mexican Repatriations: Evidence from the 1930's

“…5 A very clear feature of the repatriation program is that it was strongly predicated on the economic cost of Mexican immigrants and their role in increasing local unemployment. Somewhat inconsistently the two main reasons adduced by Secretary of Labor William Doak (Hoffman 1972) for repatriation were that (i) "it was essential to reduce unemployment of citizens," and that (ii) "many of the target individuals were jobless and on relief " (i.e., receiving some form of public or charity assistance). The oft-repeated claim of a positive effect of repatriation on local unemployment was behind the involvement of local authorities and charities in the program.…”

“…It was due to both large differences in the local Mexican population relative to the total population in 1930 and differences in the intensity of repatriation across communities. The most intensive period of Mexican deportations and repatriations was 1929-34, but they continued until 1936-7 (Hoffman 1972). We measure the intensity of repatriation across 893 U.S. cities by the total decline of the Mexican labor force between 1930 and 1940, relative to the total population in 1930.…”

The Labor Market Effects of Mexican Repatriations: Longitudinal Evidence from the 1930s

“…5 A memorial plaque was placed in LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes in Los Angeles claiming that "an estimated 2 million people of Mexican ancestry were forcibly relocated to Mexico" during the Great Depression. 9 the target individuals were jobless and on relief" (i.e., receiving some form of public or charity assistance) (Hoffman, 1972). This oft-repeated claim of a beneficial effect of repatriation on unemployment was behind the involvement of local authorities and charities.…”

“…Those were driven by differences in the size of local Mexican population and differences in the ease/cost of repatriation across communities. The most intensive period of Mexican repatriations were the years 1929-34 (Hoffman, 1972). We measure the intensity of repatriation across 686 US counties in states near the border, as the total decrease of the Mexican adult population between 1930 and 1940 While the distance of a railway from a county can be correlated with past economic conditions, its interaction with earlier Mexican settlement is more likely to be exogenous.…”

The labor market effects of Mexican repatriations: Longitudinal evidence from the 1930s

“…Those were driven by differences in the size of local Mexican population and differences in the ease/cost of repatriation across communities. The most intensive period of Mexican repatriations were the years 1929-34 (Hoffman, 1972). We measure the intensity of repatriation across 686 US counties in states near the border, as the total decrease of the Mexican adult population between 1930 and 1940 relative to the total adult population in 1930.…”