EPISODE · Aug 23, 2025 · 47 MIN
Operation Wetback
from False Summits: A History Podcast about the American West · host Mason Orlando - Jess Leigh - Marcelo Aguilar
Let us know what you thinkThis week Marcelo takes us thru a dark chapiter in American History, the grotesquely named immigration law enforcement initiative “Operation Wetback” that used military style tactics to remove Mexican immigrants, often ignoring residential or citizen status. Eerily like the headlines of today, we will explore the motivations of those who created and carried out the constitutionally questionable act and the repercussions it had on the communities, economies, and families of those displaced. #WesternHistory #TexasHistory #NewMexico, #ArizonaHistory #CaliforniaHistory #USHistory #immigranthistory #Chicanohistory #DeportationHistory #FalseSummitsPod #Eisenhower #JosehMaySwingSourcesLos Angeles Times. “Operation Begins With Swift Roundup of Aliens in Pre-Dawn Sweep.” June 18,1954.San Antonio Express. “In the Loma Park sector, several informants tipped off authorities to an entirefamily suspected of entering illegally. All members were removed by 5 a.m.” July 22, 1954.El Paso Herald-Post. “WETBACKS FLOOD BORDER – Roundup Imminent.” June 16, 1954.Kelly Lytle Hernández. *Migra! A History of the U.S. Border Patrol*. University of California Press, 2010.Mae M. Ngai. *Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America*. PrincetonUniversity Press, 2004.Juan González. *Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America*. Penguin Books, 2011.Matt García. *A World of Its Own: Race, Labor, and Citrus in the Making of Greater Los Angeles,1900–1970*. University of North Carolina Press, 2001.Oral History of José Ángel Gutiérrez. University of Texas Libraries Archives.U.S. House Appropriations Committee. Testimony of General Joseph Swing. 1954.Congressional Record. Remarks by Congressman Jack Anderson. 1954.Diocese of Corpus Christi Archives. Letter from Father Raymond G. Vonnahmen. 1954.League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). National Newsletter. August 1954. Thanks so much for listening!!!!!Like, subscribe, leave a review, wherever you can!!! Check us out with pictures on YouTube.com @ FalseSummitPodcast and like and subscribe !!!We would love to hear from you!Follow us on Instagram and bluesky @ false_summits_podFeel free to send an email to [email protected] Provided by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/
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Operation Wetback
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