“I thought what happened to her and her family
was an isolated incident,” she recalled. “I had no idea
that this happened on a much larger scale.”
Here, Valenciana discusses her work as it relates
to the mass deportation of people, many of whom were American citizens,
that was systematically practiced during the Great Depression.
| Q: |
How did you first learn that close to 2 million Mexican
and Mexican-Americans were deported to Mexico in the 1930s? |
| A: |
I was a history major at Cal State Fullerton, and one of
the classes I took was a community history class. Having a
Mexican background, I was interested in researching an area
that had to do with Mexican-Americans. While I was trying
to determine a topic, I spoke with my mother, Emilia Castaneda,
about her experience as a child. That’s when I discovered
that many families had been deported to Mexico in the late
1920s through the 1930s.
Even prior to this, there were “whisper” campaigns
and employers were asked not to hire those suspected of being
of Mexican descent. Actually, there were laws passed that
“aliens” could not be hired to work. In addition,
massive deportation raids were conducted throughout the country,
including Orange and Los Angeles counties. An atmosphere of
fear was created in the Mexican-American community. |
|
| Q: |
So what happened? Why were these people deported? |
| A: |
During the Great Depression, anywhere from one to two million
people were deported in an effort by the government to free
up jobs for those who were considered “real Americans”
and rid the county governments of “the problem.”
The campaign, called the Mexican Reparation, was authorized
by President Herbert Hoover. Although President Franklin Roosevelt
ended federal support when he took office, many state and
local governments continued with their efforts.
Estimates now indicate that approximately 60 percent of the
people deported were children who were born in America and
others who, while of Mexican descent, were legal citizens. |
|
| Q: |
How did you go about conducting your research? |
| A: |
It was all primary research because historians hadn’t
really paid much attention to it. I spoke to my mother, who
referred me to some of her cousins. I made public announcements
and found other interviewees. It snowballed from there. These
interviews are housed in the Center for Oral and Public History.
Now, I am conducting new research focused
on the education and language of the children and families involved. |
|
| Q: |
What was it like for those who were deported? |
| A: |
It was traumatic, of course. For example, my mother was nine
years old. She lived in Los Angeles. Her dominant language was
English, although she knew rudimentary Spanish. Suddenly, she
was removed from the only home she’d known, taken out
of her school and away from her friends, and sent to an unfamiliar
country. She didn’t understand the customs. She was forced
to live outdoors. She was teased because she couldn’t
speak Spanish very well. And keep in mind that she was an American
citizen. |
|
| Q: |
What was it like for adults? |
| A: |
It was very difficult for them as well. Mexico also was
going through a depression at that time, and it was hard for
the adults to find jobs in Mexico. Returning Mexicans were
unwanted. Many of these people had jobs, homes and families
in the United States. They hadn’t been in Mexico for
decades – they couldn’t just pick up and start
again.
This act literally broke up families. For instance, some
who were deported had subsequent children who were born in
Mexico – that meant that some children in the same family
were American citizens while others were not. As these children
grew older and married, they often had children who were born
in Mexico and so these children were not considered American
citizens either. The effects of this unconstitutional deportation
are far ranging and have ramifications even today. |
|
| Q: |
Were there ever any attempts to rectify this wrong? |
| A: |
art of the problem is that many did not realize this was part
of a huge concerted effort. Now that they’re aware of
it, there have been some attempts to recognize what happened.
Some looked at what happened to those who were interned in Japanese
camps during World War II and recognized that they were, in
fact, discriminated against. It’s also important to realize
that it took the Japanese community several decades to organize
in response against their treatment – and they were still
in this country. |
|
| Q: |
What kind of attempts have been made to publicize
this? |
| A: |
One of our alums – Bernie Enriquez, a field representative
for State Sen. Joseph Dunn – was aware of the Mexican
Reparation, having read my husband’s – Francisco
Balderrama – book, Decade of Betrayal. He brought the
book to the attention of Sen. Dunn [D-Santa Ana], who introduced
a bill in 2003 asking for a removal of the statute of limitations
for survivors like my mother to make claims against the state
of California for, what was quite frankly, an unconstitutional
deportation.
MALDEF [Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund]
filed a class action suit on behalf of the survivors. Sen.
Dunn sponsored a state senate hearing in July 2003 on this
unconstitutional deportation. My mother was one of the survivors
who spoke. My husband was an expert historian witness. |
|
| Q: |
What was that like watching your mother? |
| A: |
I had very mixed emotions. On the one hand, I was tremendously
proud of her. This is a woman – in her 70s – with
very little formal education, speaking before a group of powerful
legislators. On the other hand, I was nervous for her and helped
her prepare. But she did just fine. I asked her what she hoped
to get out of all this. She said simply, “I just want
people to know what happened.” |
| Q: |
Did they get an apology? |
| A: |
No. Both Governors Davis and Schwarzenegger refused. Apologizing
is an admission of guilt and neither wanted to get involved
in what they considered financial ramifications. What was very
disappointing about Schwarzenegger’s response was that
he indicated that those affected had had years to file civil
suits. But most of those who were deported were children. They
were abused, had their constitutional rights violated and were
kicked out of their country. They weren’t even aware that
they had
constitutional rights let alone that they had been violated.
|
|
| Q: |
So what happens now? |
| A: |
Sen. Dunn will re-introduce related legislation. We are doing
our best to educate others about what happened so that this
never happens to anyone again. People were denied their rights,
sent to a foreign land and children were not allowed to finish
their education. |
