Operation Wetback

[Renew Deal]

This country has gone through periodic xenophobia. Here's something from our not too distant past.

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By the mid-1950s, INS enforcement activities focused on two areas of national concern. Public alarm over illegal aliens resident and working in the United States caused the Service to strengthen border controls and launch targeted deportation programs, most notably "Operation Wetback." Additional worry over criminal aliens within the country prompted INS investigation and deportation of communists, subversives, and organized crime figures.
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http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/aboutus/history/articles/oview.htm