The Republican front runner for the president nomination, Donald Trump has a plan for immigration and is basing it on a failed operation that took place in the 1950s known as “Operation Wetback.” This blemish in American history occurred when the United States rounded up and ultimately deported Mexican farm workers in rural areas, back to Mexico. The 1954 operation is widely remembered as a failed attempt at an immigration solution and a negative time in U.S. history. Trump’s proposed goal to deport close to 11 undocumented individuals in the country, is farfetched and overreaching. Even if he were able to carry out this threat, it would come at a cost to the country of hundreds of millions and maybe billions of dollars.
Back in 1954, the United States Border Patrol claimed that it had “solved” the undocumented problem in the country by arresting and deporting 1.3 million individuals. Historians who have studied the time period have concluded that the government’s claim is completely false and would have been impossible to carry out. The man power needed for such a global operation simply wasn’t available at the time. Additionally, many of the individuals apprehended during the 1954 operation were encountered several times within the year and even within the day. Many individuals who the government claimed were deported, were merely questioned and released by Border Patrol, and never removed from the country. Further documentation evidences that people who were supposedly “deported” had never even been questioned or encountered by immigration officials. It seems the entire “Operation Wetback” success was a farce, attempting to convince the nation that most illegal individuals had been removed from the country.
Nevertheless, Trump’s plan for a “friendly” deportation includes sending back Mexican immigrants to the furthest regions of Mexico beyond the U.S. border and models his idea on the 1954 roundup. In his plan to implement another attempt at this previously failed action, Trump likens himself to President Dwight Eisenhower. Even Ted Cruz, a Republican candidate who may threaten Trump’s bid for the nomination is skeptical of Trump’s plan. In a recent “State of the Union” interview, Mr. Cruz told reporters that his personal plan for an immigration solution would not include “rounding up” undocumented individuals in the country or commissioning ICE officers to knock on people’s doors, looking for them.
Trump also faces the challenge of human rights activists who contend that “Operation Wetback” was neither humane nor successful. When it first began, people were returned to Mexico by airplane, but quickly that mode of transportation became cost prohibitive and the government moved to sending people back in crude banana boats. These conditions, where they were cramped together, side-by-side in dire conditions for the two day journey were dangerous and inhumane. Eventually, the boatlifts were discontinued after seven Mexican workers drowned on the journey back to Mexico in 1956.
It seems that Mr. Trump will say anything to appease the anti-immigrant constituency present in the Republican Party, including citing to an operation that simply didn’t do what it purported to back in 1954. However, Trump may face significant challenges in states such as Colorado where the Latino vote is central to his success.
It is improbable that in 2016 Trump’s latest immigration plan will earn him support on this issue the way Operation Roundup did for President Eisenhower in the 1950s. Trump has still not addressed some important questions like how his grand scheme will be funded or what will happen to the millions of United States citizen children, who would become orphaned when their parents were deported. Ignoring these blatant concerns is something the Democratic contenders will certainly address.
