This article is an excellent summary of the issues that lead up to Operation Wetback in 1954. It is very germane to todays situation with the ICE raids and the construction of the wall arousing racial anomosity.

Dietz suggest the racial character of the 1954 operation by citing: "The zeal with which local police departments offered assistance was staggering. In Azusa, California a local police chief volunteered to the INS that a local theater had a Spanish language night and offered coordination with theater management to turn up the lights during the movie, block the exits, and check everyone’s identification."

Much of the data for essay come from Operation Wetback: The Mass Deportation of Mexican Undocumented Workers by (Greenwood Press 1980) Juan Ramon Garcia. It is still available used on Amazon.

In his conclusion Dietz argues "that as a country of immigrants we have never had an immigration policy that responsibly addresses our needs for employment, our declining birthrate, and the benefits of a multi-cultural society."

Combine Road Trip Nation and Matt.org to get a highly visible new tool to improve the interchange of ideas and understanding between Mexico and the USA.  College students exploring each others countries and filming it will make lots of young people rethink their preconcieved notions of their next-door neighbors

This is a very good idea first proposed in detail on SWCamborne.com 

For the Jews Passover is the annual celebration of the escape from bondage in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land.  The story contains an important message about freedom and by implication about the right to migrate.

Beyond Borders went on a college road trip last week, with successful screening at Georgetown, Yale Law School and Swarthmore. Read our blog about the trip here.

When people say:

"What part of illegal don't you understand?"

The answer is:

"What part of freedom don't you

understand?"

Thanks to Gene B. for this response.