“SUPERMAN IS AN ILLEGAL ALIEN”

1. “SUPERMAN IS AN ILLEGAL ALIEN” Appendix B

2. “It’s a bird, it’s a plane…” * Thirty-one years before the Krypton native SUPERMAN landed in Kansas, the U.S. Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1907 requiring immigrants to pass through an official port of entry, submit to inspection, & receive official authorization . * Dropping from the sky & failing to register made the leader of the Justice League of America an illegal immigrant!!!

3. “…No man, it’s a wetback!” *1970s Chicano activist and songwriter Jorge Lerma • Highlights the U.S. Border Patrol’s nearly exclusive focus on policing Mexican immigrant workers. * Established in May 1924 the Border Patrol was created to enforce U.S. immigration restrictions by preventing border crossings and policing borderland regions to detect and arrest unauthorized immigrants.

4. * With a large territory to patrol, Border Officers made an enforcement plan. • They focused on catching and deporting undocumented Mexican Nationals. * Mexicans in the borderlands, regardless of immigration or citizenship status were subject to high levels of suspicion, surveillance, and state violence.

5. MEXICAN LABOR MIGRATION: THE 1920s “We are completely dependent upon Mexicans for agricultural and industrial common or casual labor. It is our only source of supply” George C. Clements, L.A. Chamber of Commerce

6. Border Patrol • U.S. officials tolerated some illegal traffic to facilitate agribusiness in the area. • Many Mexican workers gave themselves up for deportation at the end of the harvest so they could fly home at government expense. • This type of “capture” allowed border patrol to boast of impressive enforcement efforts.

7. 1930s MEXICAN REPATRIATION • U. S. Government looked for ways to ease financial hardships during the GREAT DEPRESSION • To make jobs available Government deported 2 million Mexican-Americans • Many deported to Mexico were American citizens born in U.S.

8. 1942: Revolving Door Connecting Mexico & the U.S. Changes Direction! * U.S. Farmers & Industrial Leaders call for a return of the Mexican workforce to deal w/ labor shortages * Mexican government insists on worker safeguards before permitting it. * 5 MILLION Mexican Nationals came to work as BRACEROS !

9. “When we want you, we’ll call you!” *August 4, 1942 Mexican Farm Labor Program Agreement signed *Known as the BRACERO PROGRAM *Bracero / “One who works with his arms”…field hand / hired hand *1st legalization & control of Mexican migrant workers. *April 29, 1943 Mexican Labor Agreement is passed by Congress (Public Law 45)

10. * Agreement guaranteed a minimum wage of 30 cents per hour & “humane” treatment. • Met Depression / WW II shortage of cheap labor to meet needs in both agriculture & railway maintenance. • This wave of Mexicans arrived by train. * Avoided Texas, at first ,due to abusive work environment. • Filled jobs on West Coast vacated by interred Japanese Americans

11. BRACERO CONTRACTS *available only to healthy, landless Mexican compensinos from rural regions *not available to urban dwellers, women, or those deemed too young, too old, or too sick *valued commodity *temporary but legal *used by CA farmers to lower wages, etc.

12. After WW II: Bracero Program is Extended • Workers still needed to fill jobs - expanded U.S. labor market - Korean War • Labor Unions felt threatened by the cheaper labor • National Security concerns heightened due to the Cold War with the Soviet Union

13. 1954: Operation Wetback * Program used the derogatory term for Mexican immigrants who had entered the U.S. illegally by swimming the border’s Rio Grande River and literally getting wet. * Program prompted a million people to leave the U.S. because of intimidation and fear of prosecution.

14. With many Braceros remaining in the U. S. after their contracts ended, the INS began OPERATION WETBACK. • Many U.S. born children of Mexican Braceros were wrongly repatriated, along w/ their parents. • BRACERO PROGRAM ENDS IN 1964

15. Why did the program end • 1. response to the increase in mechanization 2. protest against working conditions of the Bra ceros 3. diminished influence in Washington, D.C. by agricultural interests.

16. 1964: After the Bracero Program Ends • Hundreds of thousands of Mexican families over several generations depended on finding work in the U.S. each year. *U.S. growers, were equally dependent on hiring back people they viewed as: reliable, hard-working & affordable. * The flow of illegal immigrants expanded despite: back-breaking work, low wages & the challenging trip.

17. IMMIGRATION & NATIONALITY ACT OF 1965 *Revolutionizes immigration policy by ending the old quota system developed in the 1920s * Ethnicity virtually disappears as a defining component of national identity…in other words… we stopped identifying ourselves based on where our ancestors came from!

18. CESAR CHAVEZ AND THE‘60S ACTIVISM • 1965 Delano, CA Grape Growers Strike • “LA CAUSA” • Highlights inequities of the farm labor system • Bread ‘n Butter issues + reclaiming dignity for people marginalized by society • Non-violence and Product boycott • UFW becomes a significant political force in electoral politics

19. Brignoni Ponce vs. United States(1975) “The likelihood that any given person of Mexican ancestry is an alien is high enough to make Mexican appearance a relevant factor, but standing alone it does not justify stopping all Mexican-Americans to ask if they are aliens.”

20. 1990s Immigration * Reform Commission chaired by AA Congresswomen Barbara Jordan • Recommends 175,000 annual level of legal Mexican immigration • Stated wages of low income U.S. citizens would improve with this control • Bilingual education and controversies over welfare benefit access would disappear.

21. PROPOSITION 187 * NOVEMBER 1994 * CALIFORNIA * RESTRICTS THE ACCESS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS TO SOCIAL SERVICES INCLUDING HEALTH CARE & EDUCATION * FEDERAL COURTS RULE UNCONSTITUTIONAL

22. …MORE ’90s RESTRICTIONS… *1996 Congress passes a series of laws: - increases control of the border w/ Mexico - reduces access by aliens to social services (food stamps, etc.) - tightens immigration for potential terrorists *1998 The Non-Citizen Benefit Clarification Act - some noncitizens qualify for $ assistance - helps “citizen children” born to illegal immigrants

23. TODAY *MEXICAN IMMIGRANTS in general… • Not assimilated into mainstream U. S. culture • Form own political & linguistic groups • Reject Anglo-Protestant values *RESULTS: • Americans see & endorse their country once again as multiethnic • American identity defined in terms of culture & creed …dual nationalities / dual loyalties

24. “MIGHTY WOMEN WITH A TORCH” • Emma Lazarus ‘s poem continues to symbolize the promise of the American Dream • Waves of immigrants have failed to find shelter or acceptance in the U.S. • What respect is due to illegal immigrants who toil at the meanest jobs for the poorest wages? *Denied, Detained, Deported…the cycle of exclusion and exploitation will continue unless… ??? EACH GENERATION MUST DECIDE ???