Mexican Repatriation

The Mexican Repatriation was the repatriation and deportation of Mexicans and Mexican Americans to Mexico from the United States during the Great Depression between 1929 and 1939. Estimates of how many were repatriated range from 355,000 to 2 million. The policy, authorized by President Herbert Hoover whose administration scapegoated Mexican Americans for the Great Depression, was instituted as a means to free up jobs for Americans suffering financially. The vast majority of formal deportations happened between 1930 and 1933 as part of Hoover's policy which was first mentioned in his 1930 State of the Union Address. After Franklin D. Roosevelt became president, both formal and voluntary deportation fell for all immigrants, but especially for Mexicans. The Franklin D. Roosevelt administration also instituted more lenient policies towards Mexican immigrants, especially for well-settled ones, even if some of them were technically in the country illegally. An estimated forty to sixty percent of those repatriated were citizens of the United States - overwhelmingly children. While supported by the federal government, actual deportations and repatriations were largely organized and encouraged by city and state governments, often with support from local private entities. However, voluntary repatriation was far more common than formal deportation and federal officials were minimally involved. Some of the repatriates hoped that they could escape the economic crisis which was caused by the Great Depression. The government formally deported at least 82,000 people, with the vast majority occurring between 1930 and 1933 as part of Hoover's policy first mentioned in his 1930 State of the Union Address. The Mexican government also encouraged repatriation with the promise of free land. Widely scapegoated for exacerbating the overall economic downturn of the Great Depression, many Mexicans lost their jobs. Mexicans were further targeted because of "the proximity of the Mexican border, the physical distinctiveness of mestizos, and easily identifiable barrios.