The citizenship sacrifice: Mexican Americans, the saunders leonard report, and the politics of immigration, 1951-1952

Western Historical Quarterly

Volumn 40, Issue 3, 2009, Pages 299-320

  Blanton, Carlos Kevin ^a  

^a TEXAS A AND M UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 75849134144     PISSN: 00433810     EISSN: 19398603     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/whq/40.3.299     Document Type: Article

References (124)

1. Lyle Saunders and Olen E. Leonard, The Wetback in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas, Inter-America Education Occasional Papers, no. 7 (University of Texas, July 1951)
2. For consistency and propriety this essay uses variations of the word "undocumented" to characterize immigrant laborers without official legal status. I eschew "wetback" and "mojado" as ugly, insensitive epithets. The reticence to use these hurtful words, except when utilized by historical figures themselves, also applies to versions of "illegal." The author thanks Anthony Quiroz and the participants of the symposium "Looking Backward, Looking Forward: Celebrating Dr. Hector P. Garcia and 60 Years of American G. I. Forum Activism," participants of the Glasscock Center for Humanities Faculty Colloquium at Texas A&M University, and Walter L. Buenger and Randal L. Hall
3. For the Mexicanist Generation, see Emilio Zamora, The World of the Mexican Worker in Texas (College Station, 1993)
4. For the Mexican American Generation, see Mario T. Garcia, Mexican Americans: Leadership, Ideology, and Identity, 1930-1960 (New Haven, 1989)
5. For a study of Mexican Americans and citizenship, see Anthony Quiroz, Claiming Citizenship: Mexican Americans in Victoria, Texas (College Station, 2005)
6. For immigration, political identity, and labor see David G. Gutierrez, Walls and Mirrors: Mexican Americans, Mexican Immigrants, and the Politics of Ethnicity (Berkeley, 1995)
7. Zaragosa Vargas, Labor Rights Are Civil Rights: Mexican American Workers in Twentieth-Century America (Princeton, 2005)
8. For Operation Wetback, see Juan Ramon Garcia, Operation Wetback: The Mass Deportation of Mexican Undocumented Workers in 1954 (Westport, CT, 1980)
9. Kelly Lytle Hernandez, "The Crime and Consequences of Illegal Immigration: A Cross-Border Examination of Operation Wetback, 1943 to 1954," Western Historical Quarterly 37 (Winter 2006): 421-44
10. Mae M. Ngai, Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America Princeton, 2004)
11. Abraham Hoffman, Unwanted Mexican Americans in the Great Depression: Repatriation Pressures, 1929-1939 (Tucson, 1974), 174-5
12. Zamora, World of the Mexican Worker, 211
13. David Montejano, Anglos and Mexicans in the Making of Texas, 1836-1986 (Austin, 1987), 109
14. Gutierrez, Walls and Mirrors, 144
15. Craig Kaplowitz, LULAC, Mexican Americans, and National Policy (College Station, 2005), 41
16. Carl Allsup, The American G. I. Forum: Origins and Evolution (Austin, 1982), 39-49
17. Henry Ramos, The American GI Forum: In Pursuit of the Dream, 1948-1983 (Houston, 1998), 9-17
18. Michelle Hall Kells, Hector P. Garcia: Everyday Rhetoric and Mexican American Civil Rights (Carbondale, 2006), 78-95
19. Ignacio M. Garcia, Hector P. Garcia: In Relentless Pursuit of Justice (Houston, 2002), 104-39
20. For the Longoria case, see Patrick Carroll, Felix Longoria's Wake: Bereavement, Racism, and the Rise of Mexican American Activism (Austin, 2003)
21. Ed Idar to George I. Sánchez, 13 September 1954 and George I. Sánchez to Simon Gross, 15 September 1954, folder 7, box 31, George I. Sánchez Papers, Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection, University of Texas-Austin, (hereafter cited as Sánchez Papers) and Carlos Kevin Blanton, "George I. Sánchez, Ideology, and Whiteness in the Making of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement, 1930-1960," Journal of Southern History 72 (August 2006): 590
22. Hector P. García to George I. Sánchez, 26 May 1948, George I. Sánchez to Hector P. García, 4 June 1948, Hector P. García to LULAC Council No. 1, 22 November 1948, Robert Meza to LULAC Council No. 1, 9 January 1949, "Resolution of Appreciation," all of these communications found in folder 47, box 172
23. Hector P. García Papers, Mary and Jeff Bell Library at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, (hereafter cited as García Papers); Allsup, American G.I. Forum, 33
24. Mario García, Mexican Americans, 271
25. Blanton, "George I. Sánchez," 581, 587-8
26. For more on this debate, see Blanton, "George I. Sánchez," 569-604
27. For recent whiteness analyses, see Laura E. Gómez, Manifest Destinies: The Making of the Mexican American Race (New York, 2007)
28. Michael Phillips, White Metropolis: Race, Ethnicity, and Religion in Dallas, 1841-2001 (Austin, 2006)
29. Thomas A. Guglielmo, "Fighting for Caucasian Rights: Mexicans, Mexican Americans, and the Transnational Struggle for Civil Rights in World War II Texas," Journal of American History 92 (March 2006): 1212-37
30. Mario T. Garcia, "Mexican Americans and the Politics of Citizenship: The Case of El Paso, 1936," New Mexico Historical Review 59 (Spring 1984): 201
31. Neil Foley, "Partly Colored or Other White: Mexican Americans and Their Problem with the Color Line," in Beyond Black & White: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender in the U.S. South and Southwest, ed. Stephanie Cole and Alison M. Parker (College Station, 2004), 143
32. George I. Sánchez to A.L. Wirin, 24 August 1950, folder 15, box 62, Sánchez Papers; George I. Sánchez, "The Default of Leadership," Summarized Proceedings IV, p. 5
33. Ernesto Galarza, "Mexican-United States Labor Relations and Problems," Summarized Proceedings III, p. 5, (Southwest Council on Education of Spanish-Speaking People, Fourth Regional Conference, Albuquerque, 23-5 January 1950), folder 5493, box 515, Rockefeller Archive Center, Sleepy Hollow, New York, General Education Board Papers (hereafter cited as GEBP)
34. George I. Sánchez, "Spanish-Speaking People in the Southwest-A Brief Historical Review," 1948, p. 7, folder 5494, box 515, GEBP
35. Juan García, Operation Wetback, 40-5
36. Blanton, "George I. Sánchez," 583-4; Ngai, Impossible Subjects, 144
37. Nelson Gage Copp, "Wetbacks" and Braceros: Mexican Migrant Laborers and American Immigration Policy, 1930-1960 (San Francisco, 1971), 40
38. Fred McCuistion, report on "Projects Relating to Spanish-Speaking People," 6-11 June 1949, folder 5494, box 515, GEBP
39. Ngai, Impossible Subjects, 236-9
40. The five following articles by Gladwyn Hill are all to be found in the New York Times on the dates given: "Million a Year Flee Mexico Only to Find Peonage Here," New York Times, 25 March 1951, p. 1
41. "Peons Net Farmer a Fabulous Profit," 26 March 1951, p. 25
42. "Peons in the West Lowering Culture," 27 March 1951, p. 31
43. "Southwest Winks at 'Wetback' Jobs," 28 March 1951, p. 31
44. see also George I. Sánchez and Lyle Saunders, " 'Wetbacks': A Preliminary Report to the Advisory Committee, Study of Spanish-Speaking People, the University of Texas," 12 June 1949, 27-31, folder 5494, box 515, GEBP
45. George I. Sánchez, report on "Study of Spanish- Speaking People," 28 August 1950, folder 5493, box 515 GEBP; Kaplowitz, LULAC, 47-51
46. Saunders and Leonard, The Wetback, 20, 83
47. For earlier studies noting gross exploitation of farm labor in South Texas see Paul S. Taylor, An American-Mexican Frontier: Nueces County, Texas (Chapel Hill, 1934)
48. See also, Paul S. Taylor Mexican Labor in the United States Dimmit County, Winter Garden District, South Texas, vol. 6 (Berkeley, 1930)
49. Saunders and Leonard, The Wetback, 54-5
50. Sánchez and Saunders, " 'Wetbacks': A Preliminary Report," p. 3, folder 5494, box 515 GEBP
51. Dick Elam, "Stop Wetback Flow, Texans Warned," University of Texas, Austin Summer Texan, 12 June 1949, n.p
52. Saunders and Leonard, The Wetback, 3. Stressing international prestige in arguing for reform at home was a common tactic of civil rights activists. See Mary L. Dudziak, Cold War Civil Rights: Race and the Image of American Democracy (Princeton, 2000)
53. Saunders and Leonard, The Wetback, 43, 70, 72
54. García, Operation Wetback, 140-1
55. Ricky F. Dobbs, Yellow Dogs and Republicans: Allan Shivers and Texas Two Party Politics (College Station, 2005), 55-8
56. Blanton, "George I. Sánchez," 586
57. Gary A. Keith, Eckhardt: There Once Was a Congressman from Texas (Austin, 2007), 84
58. See also, Blanton, "George I. Sánchez," 582-7
59. Saunders and Leonard, The Wetback, 66-7
60. Alonso S. Perales to George I. Sánchez, 3 December 1951, folder 15, box 214, García Papers; Kaplowitz, LULAC, 21-2
61. George I. Sánchez to Alonso S. Perales, 5 December 1951, folder 15, box 214, García Papers and Alonso S. Perales, "En Defensa De Mi Raza," 9 December 1951, San Antonio La Prensa, 8
62. "Honorosa Distinction Y Horrible Contraste," Corpus Christi La Verdad, 14 December 1951, p. 1
63. The description was "un SIMPLE EMPLEADO de Universidad, George I. Sánchez, nulidad insignificante y de dudosa reputación intelectual, fantoche, entre los ciudadanos pensantes y patriotas," and " un autómata o Judas del presente siglo."
64. Santos de la Paz, "Editor Attacks Censoriousness of Wet-Back Pamphlet's Distribution in Texas," Corpus Christi La Verdad, 28 December 1951, p. 1
65. Alonso S. Perales to J. Luz Sáenz, 21 and 30 November, 4 and 11 December 1951, folder 1, box 2, Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection, José de la Luz Sáenz Papers (hereafter cited as Sáenz Papers)
66. Adela Sloss-Vento, Alonso S. Perales: His Struggle for the Rights of Mexican-Americans (San Antonio, 1977), 38-9
67. Hector P. García, 13 December 1951, San Antonio La Prensa, folder 15, box 214, García Papers
68. Alonso S. Perales to Hector P. García, 8 December 1951, folder 17, box 5, Sáenz Papers
69. "Study Attack Draws Retorts," San Antonio Light and 9 December 1951, n. p
70. "American G.I. Forum of Texas, Board of Directors Meeting, Edinburg, Texas, 9 December 1951," folder 1, box 4, Sáenz Papers; Ed Idar to American G.I. Forum Board of Directors, undated (early December, 1951), folder 15, box 214, García Papers
71. Robert N. Jones to Senator Lyndon Johnson, 13 November 1949, folder 5, box 223, García Papers
72. Hector P. García to George I. Sánchez, 31 December 1951, folder 15, box 214, García Papers. It was a poor choice of invective as Sánchez was no stranger to tuberculosis, having nearly lost his life to it during World War II. The criticism of Sáenz was unfounded. The elderly activist and educator retired from teaching to be with his son at Sul Ross State College in Alpine, Texas, while completing the final courses he lacked for his bachelor's degree
73. See Emilio Zamora, "Fighting on Two Fronts: José de la Luz Sáenz and the Language of the Mexican-American Civil Rights Movement," in Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage, ed. Maggie Rivas Rodriguez (Houston, 2002), 220, 226-7
74. George I. Sánchez to Hector P. García, 20 December 1951, folder 15, box 214, García Papers and Ignacio García, Hector P. García, 197
75. Hector P. García to "All G.I. Forum Members, Officers, and Friends," undated (mid December, 1951), folder 33, box 173, 1-2, García Papers
76. Hector P. García to Gus C. García, 3 January 1952, folder 15, box 214, García Papers
77. J. Luz Sáenz, "Apuñaleando Por La Espanda Para el Dr. Hector P. García," La Verdad, 4 January 1952, p. 1 (in Spanish: "Y tu también Bruto!") and Idar Interview, 24 October 1991, by Margo Gutiérrez in Austin, Texas, Nettie Lee Benson, Audio-Visual Collection, tape 9, box 6 (hereafter cited as Idar Interview)
78. "Filling's," La Verdad, 11 January 1952, p. 1
79. Ed Idar to A.H. Cardenas and Ed Idar to Trinidad Gonzalez, both 12 January 1952, folder 15, box 214, García Papers; "Flagrante Violación a la Doctrina de Buena Vecinidad," Matamoros El Regional, 27 January 1952
80. J. Luz Sáenz, "Esta Siendo Organizada la Unidad de Todos Los Mexicanos, de Tex.," Reynosa El Mañana, 4 April 1952
81. Gus C. García to Alonso S. Perales, 6 December 1951, folder 15, box 214, García Papers
82. Gus C. García to John J. Herrera, 21 January 1952, folder 4, box 215, García Papers; Vargas, Labor Rights Are Civil Rights, 279
83. David G. Gutierrez, "Sin Fronteras? Chicanos, Mexican Americans, and the Emergence of the Contemporary Mexican Immigration Debate, 1968-1978," Journal of American Ethnic History 10 (Summer 1991): 8
84. J.T. Canales to Ed Idar, 13 January 1952, folder 4, box 215, García Papers. Idar later confirmed suspicion that the anonymous politician was indeed Kelley. See Idar Interview
85. Ed Idar to J.T. Canales, 15 January 1952, folder 4, box 215, García Papers
86. J.T. Canales to Ed Idar, 18 January 1952, folder 4, box 215, García Papers. Canales was himself a large South Texas farmer
87. "Filling's," La Verdad, and Santos de la Paz, "Editor Attacks Censoriousness of WETBACK PAMPHLET'S distribution in Texas," both in La Verdad, 28 December 1951, p. 1
88. J. Luz Sáenz to J.T. Canales, 2 April 1952, folder 11, box 1, Sáenz Papers
89. Leo N. Duran to J. Luz Sáenz, 24 January 1952, folder 11, box 1, Sáenz Papers
90. George I. Sánchez to A.L. Wirin, 18 September 1952, folder 17, box 62, Sánchez Papers; Ed Idar to Hector P. García, transcription of editorial, Firing Line, 1 October 1952
91. Ed Idar to Nicholas Ninnemacher, 16 October 1952, Ed Idar to G. Ward Moody, 16 October 1952, these letters found in folder 2, box 215, García Papers; Jeffrey M. Garcilazo, "McCarthyism, Mexican Americans, and the Los Angeles Committee for Protection of the Foreign-Born, 1950-1954," Western Historical Quarterly 32 (Fall 2001): 273-95
92. Quiroz, Claiming Citizenship, xvi-xviii
93. For the NAACP's adoption of a similar stance in the early 1950s see Manfred Berg, "Black Civil Rights and Liberal Anticommunism: The NAACP in the Early Cold War," Journal of American History 94 (June 2007): 75-96
94. Ed Idar to J.T. Canales, 22 January 1952, folder 4, box 215, García Papers
95. "University Praised by GI Forum Board," University of Texas, Austin Daily Texan, 11 December 1951
96. Vargas, Labor Rights Are Civil Rights, 278
97. Handbill, "Importante Junta en Mission. Draft of Resolution Adopted by Leaders of the Latin American Citizenry of the Rio Grande Valley," 9 March 1952, folder 4, box 215, García Papers
98. Jimmie H. Wellman, "The Ax Fell on the Academic Turkey! Wetback Pamphlet Writers, U. of T. and Others Supporting 'Insults' Refuted Unanimously at Huge Meeting in Mission, Texas Last Sunday," La Verdad, 14 March 1952, p. 1. A headline without an accompanying story read, "Posiblemente Una Invistigacion Del F.B.I. A Los Simpatizadores Del Folleto."
99. J.T. Canales to Hector P. García, 29 April 1952, folder 4, box 215, García Papers and "Texas Pro-Human Relations Funds Committee and Latin-American Convention of South Texas Merge," La Verdad, 16 May 1952, p. 1
100. Ed Idar and Andrew C. McLellan, What Price Wetbacks? / American G.I. Forum of Texas, Texas State Federation of Labor (AFL) (Austin, 1954), 6
101. Allsup, American G.I. Forum, 110
102. Gutierrez, "Sin Fronteras," 9
103. Ignacio García, Hector P. García, 201
104. "Wetback Round-Up Needs Support of LULAC," LULAC News 21, no. 8 (July 1954): 4
105. "Editorial," LULAC News 22, no. 2 (August 1954): 1-2
106. Kaplowitz, LULAC, 54-9
107. Gutiérrez, Walls and Mirrors, 178
108. George I. Sánchez to Simon Gross, 3 April 1952, folder 6, box 31; A.L. Wirin to George I. Sánchez, 9 April 1954 and 3 March 1954 folder 19, box 62; A.L. Wirin to James Marshall, 2 June 1954, folder 19, box 62
109. AL. Wirin to George I. Sánchez, 20 December 1955, folder 1, box 63, all of these communications found in Sánchez Papers
110. Blanton, "George I. Sánchez," 588-9
111. Alonso S. Perales, "Una Nueva Sociedad Para El Progresso Y Bienestar De Nuestro Pueblo En Texas," La Prensa, 11 May 1952
112. Dobbs, Yellow Dogs and Republicans, 52-8, 82-5
113. J. Luz Sáenz, "Facts of the Matter of the Wetbacks," La Verdad, 18 July 1952
114. J. Luz Sáenz, "Border Politics," Corpus Christi Caller, 25 April 1952
115. Carlos E. Castañeda to J. Luz Sáenz, 7 March 1952, folder 11, box 1, Sáenz Papers
116. See Allen J. Matusow, Farm Policies and Politics in the Truman Years (Cambridge, MA, 1967), 119
117. George I. Sánchez to Gus Garcia, 12 October 1950, folder 13, box 224, García Papers; "Resignation of Sanchez May Wreck Human Relations Council's Program," Valley Evening Monitor, 5 July 1952, scrapbook A, box 7, Sáenz Papers; George I. Sánchez, report on "Study of Spanish Speaking People," 28 August 1950, folder 5493, box 515, GEBP
118. Dobbs, Yellow Dogs and Republicans, 15-16, 55-8
119. George Norris Green, The Establishment in Texas Politics: The Primitive Years, 1938-1957 (Norman, 1984), 139-141
120. Gilbert G. González, Mexican Consuls and Labor Organizing: Imperial Politics in the American Southwest (Austin, 1999), 210-12
121. Allsup, American G.I. Forum, 110-11, 159
122. Ignacio M. García, Viva Kennedy: Mexican Americans in Search of Camelot (College Station, 2000), 5-6
123. Ignacio García, Viva Kennedy, 5-6
124. David Gutiérrez, Walls and Mirrors, 177-8