Though it’s now known as a sanctuary state, one where its leaders fight against the mass deportation and indefinite detention of immigrants, California has a history of recruiting and welcoming immigrants, only to later shut them out.
During and after World War II, the Golden State benefited from the cheap labor of Mexican workers, known as braceros, who were later mass deported by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
On August 13, the California Museum launched a new exhibit titled “Help Wanted/Leave Now,” highlighting Eisenhower’s mass deportation campaign. Operation Wetback, named after a racial slur targeting Latinos, is known as the largest mass deportation campaign in U.S. history, estimated to have deported over 1 million individuals.
Read full story by reporter @andreainprint at Calonews.com.
