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Operation Wetback

Operation Wetback began in 1954 as an effort to remove undocumented and illegal Mexican sharecropper workers from the United States. Vetted by President Dwight Eisenhower and drafted by Attorney General Herbert Brownell, Operation Wetback arose as a result of an angry citizenry. The public had become disgruntled over the widespread corruption of employers of sharecroppers and growers along the Mexican border—the recent influx of illegal workers had made the border patrol a risible arm of law enforcement. Although Operation Wetback was deemed a success, the numbers of successful deportations are often the source of controversy. Some argue the numbers were inflated by the Eisenhower administration, while others suggest that such a contention misses the larger goal and purpose of the legislation (to address the corrupt practices of those who employed illegal workers and deported said workers). This entry reviews the historical context, purpose, and impact of Operation Wetback.

History

The Mexican government repeatedly failed to secure equal pay and workers' rights for many of its citizens within the southwestern United States; millions crossed the border from Mexico as undocumented workers, with the term wetback originating from immigrants' use of the Rio Grande to cross illegally (in 1952 alone, some 852,000 persons were seized by the federal government). In the United States, many political ideologues branded illegal immigrants recalcitrant brigands bent on harming the nation and everything its citizens valued. Although the United States eventually created the bracero program to combat the increasing number of illegal immigrants, the citizenry desired a more hard-line approach that eventually led to the creation of Operation Wetback.

The illegal immigrant influx did have observable damaging effects on wages. Most of the Mexican undocumented workers were willing to work for significantly lower wages than the average American blue-collar worker. Employers were able to pay more workers for less work within the cotton and produce industries; the potential for mass profit without the provision of worker benefits was too attractive for many of these business owners to turn away. Finally, the significance of this issue remains even today, with illegal immigration a hot-button issue in many electoral campaigns throughout the United States.

The Role of the Bracero Program

In 1942, the U.S. government enacted the bracero program, presaging the guest worker program that gained notoriety during President Ronald Reagan's administration in the 1980s. The program was originally conceived in the early 1940s to combat a wartime dearth of labor power through taxpayer labor subsidies; the plan lasted until 1964. However, most contract employers did not pay enough for many poor Mexican documented workers to make a living. As a result of the inadequate wages and the ease with which illegal immigrants could be hired without the burden of the immigration bureaucracy, only 1 in 10 were issued valid worker certificates from 1947 to 1960. The problems with the bracero program immediately led to more undocumented workers in the United States, prompting an ineffective Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to take advantage of the widespread public outcry over the mass illegal immigration's depressive effect on wages for U.S. workers. Moreover, the bracero program failed in the eyes of many American workers by increasing the number of undocumented workers as opposed to contracting legal ones.

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