jan 1, 1940 - 1940 - MEXICAN POPULATION DEPORTED

Description:

With the cooperation of the U.S. and Mexican governments, local civic organizations such as the American Legion of East Chicago rounded up hundreds of unemployed workers and their families and placed them on trains bound for the U.S.-Mexico border. Forcible and voluntary repatriation drives focused on workers who “looked Mexican” and often ignored the citizenship of those who had been born in the United States. Others, conscious of their bleak prospects and the hostile social climate, voluntarily accepted the free train trip south. In the decade of the 1930s, the Mexican population in the Chicago area was cut nearly in half. By 1940 an estimated 16,000 Mexicans remained within Chicago.

Added to timeline:

Date:

Images:

Geo: