Free Republic

Up to 2 million people of Mexican ancestry were relocated to Mexico during the 1930s, even though as many as 1.2 million were born in the United States. In California, some 400,000 Latino United States citizens or legal residents were forced to leave. Now California, for its part, wants to say it is sorry. On Sunday, Senate Bill 670 - the so-called "Apology Act for the 1930s Mexican Repatriation Program" - becomes official. It acknowledges the suffering of tens of thousands of Latino families unjustly forced out of the Golden State that was their home. "The state of California apologizes...

Photo shows a crowd of 1400 Mexicans at Central Station when they departed today for their old homes in Mexico. The families, with their babies, guitars, blankets, shawls and bundles, left on three special Southern Pacific trains chartered by Los Angeles County, which set aside about $15,000 to aid them in their repatriation. Officials estimated that this sum spent on transportation would be recovered within six weeks in savings on charity. Photo dated: January 14, 1932.

SACRAMENTO - Responding to a dark, little-known chapter in American history, the Assembly voted Tuesday to establish a state fund that could be used to pay reparations to survivors of a massive deportation of Latinos in the 1930s. By a 41-23 vote, lawmakers approved a bill by Sen. Joe Dunn, D-Garden Grove, that also would create a 16-member commission to make recommendations to the governor and Legislature on how to redress the deportations. It would take subsequent legislation to appropriate money for the fund, however. The bill is a response to a policy that was started by the Hoover administration,...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - The state Senate voted Thursday to formally apologize for the deportation of Mexican-Americans citizens between 1929 and 1944 as part of a program that was designed to create jobs during the Depression. About 2 million Hispanics, including 400,000 Californians, were sent to Mexico during that period. It was devised by the Hoover administration to get rid of illegal immigrants and open up jobs, but most of the people deported were American citizens or legal immigrants, said Sen. Joe Dunn, the author of the bill. Dunn, D-Santa Ana, learned of the little-known chapter in American history from a...

SACRAMENTO - An Orange County lawmaker is trying again to make amends for a shocking but little known episode in American history - one he discovered because he wanted a book to read on a cross-country flight. "Decade of Betrayal" tells the story of the deportation of about 2 million Hispanics, including 400,000 Californians, to Mexico between 1929 and 1944. An aide gave it to state Sen. Joe Dunn, D-Garden Grove, about four years ago and he grabbed it to read on a trip to the East Coast. "I was blown away by it," he said in a recent interview....