1. Borderland Issues History of Borderland issues
Current issues and politics that surround the border
Further reading

2. What is the borderland?
Today the US Mexico border covers 2000 miles encompassing four US and six Mexican states.
Borderland culture has become almost a culture in itself.

3. History: Establishing the Border
1819: U.S & Spain define border
1821: Mexico gains independence from Spain
1846: U.S. declares war on Mexico to settle Texas, which has claimed independence from Mexico.

4. Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 1848
For $15 million and a few promises the U.S. gets
California, Arizona, Nevada, parts of Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico & Texas
Residents of the acquired territory are guaranteed citizenship, property rights, civil rights, education and protection under the U.S. law
Except not really. When ratified, the article is removed

5. Post-treaty Anti-Mexican sentiment
Texas & New Mexico: Mexican residents are restricted from voting
California passes “Greaser laws”
Most residents lose their land
California Land Claims Act fails in part to economic hardships, which make claims difficult to determine & enforce

6. 1855 Greaser Act
Defined vagrants as “all persons who [were] commonly known as ‘Greasers’ or the issue of Spanish or Indian blood”
Intended to keep Hispanics from owning mines and provided another justification for expropriation of American Hispanic lands

7. 1851 California Land Claims Act
Provided that claims to all lands in California be presented within two years of the date of the act
Many people didn’t know the requirements and therefore lost their land

8. Wait! Come back! Fun in the 1880s
Anti-Asian sentiment stronger than anti-Mexican
Chinese Exclusion Act passed
Mexican railroad workers recruited
1904: First border patrol established to keep Asian immigrants from entering through the U.S./Mexico border

9. 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act
Climax to more than 30 years of progressive racism
Suspended Chinese immigration for ten years and declared Chinese ineligible for naturalization

10. Just Kidding! Get out! 1910: Mexican Revolution
Thousands flee Mexico to enter the U.S.

11. Baby, I didn’t mean to hurt you. Come back.
1920: First defacto bracero program recruits Mexican agricultural workers
1921: Agricultural lobbyists seek to include Mexicans among the list of restricted immigrants to the U.S.
1924: largest recruitment of Mexican workers ever
89,000 immigrants given permanent visas
Concept of “illegal immigrant” emerges for the first time

12. Woah, woah, woah. I said “Come back.” I didn’t say, “Stay.”
The Depression hits
Visas denied
Deportations begin
Border stations established
Tax collected on people crossing the border

13. 1931 Lemon Grove
Lemon Grove local school board built a separate 2-room barn-like facility for Mexican pupils across the tracks in the barrio
2nd-hand equipment, books and supplies
Parents voted to boycott school and seek legal redress
Board members argued school meant to meet needs of non-English-speaking children
Judge ordered “immediate reinstatement” to old school

14. But I need you. Come home. World War II: A labor crisis
1942: Bracero Program established
Workers granted legal residency in the U.S.
Millions of Mexican citizens “imported”

15. I have tired of you. Get out.
War ends, U.S. citizens return, Mexican workers deported
Labor shortage. 1951: Bracero program revived
1953: Operation Wetback
1960s: Bracero Program ends

16. 1954 Operation Wetback
Repatriation project of the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service to remove illegal Mexican immigrants (“wetbacks”) from the Southwest
Operation trailed off in the fall of the same year due to lack of funds after the apprehension and deportation of thousands of illegal aliens

17. 1972 Brown Berets
Brown Berets, a youth organization, took over Catalina Island off the Southern coast of California to symbolize their fight to protect the civil property rights of Mexicans in the Southwest

18. The economy informs notions of race.
Border Industrialization Program
“Twin Plant” assembly program
Maquiladoras
1982: Devaluation of Mexican currency makes relocation of American businesses to Mexico an attractive option

19. NAFTA: We love to hate you.
Economic incentives make borderlands an attractive location for employment
Increase in Mexican residents in borderlands causes increase in border patrol
Fences established, English only laws passed
The culture war continues

20. Current Border Issues “The Wall of Embarrassment”/ the Mexican American Border
The Mexican media calls the border the “wall of embarrassment” because they believe it is embarrassing to Americans.
How many people has the wall and militarized border budget kept out?

21. Current Borderland Issues Minutemen
Project started by conservative Americans to control immigration using their own means.
Propelled by Homeland Security issues, post 9/11
Minutemen website

22. Current Borderland Issues Healthcare
The controversy occurs in the US because many people believe that no one should be turned away from a hospital for an illness.
In many states propositions have been passed that make it illegal for doctors to treat undocumented immigrants.
More information
What do you think?

23. Related Links Now let’s rhetorically analyze
A Rational Approach to Immigration
Post- Sept. 11: Vigilante Justice
The 15 Second Men

24. Further Exploration
Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza by Gloria Anzaldúa
Almanac of the Dead by Leslie Marmon Silko
The Border (documentary) by PBS
The Salt of the Earth (film) by Herbert Biberman
Act & Resist (Web site)

25. Credits Director Bethany Hunter Executive Producer Robert Carlson
Key Grip Katherine Tierney
Editor Megan Mock
Hair and Make-up Robert Carlson
Best Posture Anna Van Dyke
Who would win in a fight Megan Mock