The publisher gratefully acknowledges the generous
support of the Humanities Endowment Fund of the
University of California Press Foundation.
Migra!
AMERICAN CROSSROADS
Edited by Earl Lewis, George Lipsitz, Peggy Pascoe, George Sánchez, and Dana Takagi
Migra!
A History of the U.S. Border Patrol
_____
Kelly Lytle Hernández
University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu.
“Superman Es Ilegal,” by Jorge Lerma, © Copyright 1979 by Peer International Corporation. International Copyright secured. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Translation by Alex and Nina Hidalgo, in Larry R. Juchartz, Elizabeth A. Stolarek, and Christy Rishoi, eds., American Dreams (New York: Pearson Longman, 2009), 227–29.
Epigraph photo: “Superman” and Friends: A Mexican immigrant awaits deportation, circa 1953. U.S. Border Patrol (McAllen, Texas) Official Photograph, File No. 48–7. Courtesy of the National Border Patrol Museum—El Paso, Texas.
A version of chapter 4 appeared earlier and is reprinted with permission of The Regents of the University of California from Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies 34 (Spring 2009), UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center. Not for further reproduction. Versions of chapters 6 and 8 appeared earlier, copyright by the Western History Association. Reprinted by permission. The article first appeared as “The Crimes and Consequences of Illegal Immigration: A Cross-Border Examination of Operation Wetback, 1943–1954,” Western Historical Quarterly 7 (Winter 2006): 421–44.
University of California Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles, California
University of California Press, Ltd.
London, England
© 2010 by The Regents of the University of California
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hernandez, Kelly Lytle.
Migra! : a history of the U.S. Border Patrol / Kelly Lytle Hernandez.
p. cm. — (American crossroads ; 29)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-520-25769-6 (cloth : alk. paper) —ISBN 978-0-520-26641-4 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. United States. Immigration Border Patrol—History. 2. Mexican-American Border Region—History. 3. Illegal aliens—Mexican-American Border Region. 4. United States—Emigration and immigration. I. Title.
JV6483.H45 2010
363.28’50973—dc22 2009039563
Manufactured in the United States of America
19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is printed on Cascades Enviro 100, a 100% post consumer waste, recycled, de-inked fiber. FSC recycled certified and processed chlorine free. It is acid free, Ecologo certified, and manufactured by BioGas energy.
For my mother because you taught me to write
For my father because you inspire me to take on the world
For my brother because you teach me that change is possible
For my husband because you are beautiful
For my children because I love you
[Spoken] It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No man, it’s a wetback. [Sung] He came from the sky, but he is not a plane. He came in his spaceship from Krypton, And by the looks of him, he’s not American. He’s someone like me—undocumented. So the migrant should not work Because even though it hurts, Superman is an illegal. He’s a journalist, and I am too; He didn’t serve in the army (what a bum!) He is white, has blue eyes and is well-formed; I’m dark-skinned, chubby, and short. But in my homeland I already marched With the coyote I paid when I crossed.
He didn’t serve in the military He doesn’t pay taxes and he wants to pass judgment He doesn’t have diamonds or a license to fly. I’ll bet he doesn’t even have a social security card.
We need to kick Superman out of here And if it’s possible, send him back to Krypton. Where is the emigration authority? What’s the news, Mr. Racism, in the nation? For all I know they don’t fine him for flying But on the contrary, they declare he’s Superman.
JORGE LERMA, “SUPERMAN IS AN ILLEGAL ALIEN”
CONTENTS
Map of the U.S.-Mexico Border Region
3. The California-Arizona Borderlands
4. Mexico’s Labor Emigrants, America’s Illegal Immigrants
6. The Corridors of Migration Control
7. Uprising: A Farmers’ Rebellion
PART THREE: OPERATION WETBACK AND BEYOND