Hispanics sue over forced deportations

A lawsuit has been filed against the City of Los Angeles on behalf of hundreds of thousands of people of Mexican descent who allegedly were forced to leave the United States during the Great Depression of the 1930s.

The suit claims some 400,000 people suffered "irreparable loss" because they were allegedly forced to uproot to save "white" jobs, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The Great Depression, the largest and most devastating in U.S. history, was brought about in large part due to the collapse of Wall Street in 1929. It lasted well into the 1930s; some historians and economists claim it lasted until the end of World War II. By 1933, unemployment had risen to an all-time high of 24.9 percent, and Gross Domestic Product had fallen more than 15 percent.

The litigants – represented by the Beverly Hills law firm Kiesel, Boucher & Larson, and the Mexican-American Legal Defense Fund – claim they were wrongly deported to Mexico from 1929-33, when 13 million Americans were jobless. But some 60 percent of those sent back to Mexico reportedly were U.S. citizens, the paper said. The lawyers involved are seeking class-action status for the suit.

The photo of this destitute mother and her children became iconic during the Great Depression as a sign of America's destitution and poverty.

"We have to recognize that in the 1930s we used the Mexican population as a scapegoat," Raymond Boucher told the Los Angeles Times. "Until we take an honest look in the mirror, none of us is truly safe."

The suit claims city officials worked with federal immigration officials to illegally deport those of Mexican descent. The plaintiffs are hoping for the kind of compensation package given by the Reagan administration to Japanese Americans interned during World War II, the London Guardian reported.

City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo had no comment on the suit, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Some immigration-reform groups oppose the lawsuit on grounds it is not only counterproductive but also because it punishes today's taxpayers for an alleged injustice that occurred more than 70 years ago.

"We oppose the whole group-victimhood ethos being perpetrated today, and this seems to be more of the same," said Craig Nelson, a spokesman for Friends of Immigration Law Enforcement.

"As I understand it, most of the U.S. citizens who were, indeed, removed from the country were U.S.-born children of illegal aliens whose parents chose to take them back to Mexico rather than leave them with relatives in the U.S.," said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies.

"Essentially, the proponents of this idea want amnesty for any illegal alien who has a child born in the United States," he told WorldNetDaily. "Of course, this only strengthens the arguments of those who want to change current policy and deny U.S. citizenship to the U.S.-born children of illegal aliens."

During the early Depression years, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and a Democrat-controlled Congress greatly expanded the size and scope of government under "The New Deal" legislation. Historians and economists note Congress and the administration targeted wealthy Americans with new, higher income taxes to provide for the nation's growing number of unemployed and under-employed.

In 1932, Congress passed the Revenue Act, which raised top tax rates from 25 percent to 63 percent. By 1935, Congress passed new legislation mandating a top tax rate of 75 percent on incomes over $5 million.

Subsidy programs such as the Civil Works Administration, the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Public Works Administration and the Works Progress Administration provided work on all kinds of infrastructure and construction projects for unemployed men.

(COPY AND DISTRIBUTE WIDELY: start a movement, print a petition, start a political party, confront your legislators, write letters, post posters, drop leaflets, demand, demand, demand.)

18 POINT ACTION PLAN: Border Violators

1) Close all US borders to illegal entry forthwith by any and all means possible, including military presence.

2) Maintain legitimate immigration levels at modest annual level with requirements that immigrants be employable or sufficiently wealthy for self-support if they do not intend to work, proficient in basic English and willing to be assimilated into American culture and language. All applicants shall provide prints, photos and DNA samples.

3) Legal immigration shall be awarded to individuals on a lottery basis, wherein all countries are given equal status in the immigration lottery, without regards to color or economic plight of originating nation.

4) Individuals of Islamic faith (muslims) from any country shall be denied immigration privileges or entry into the US. Christians and Jews from muslim countries fleeing religious persecution shall receive accelerated immigration privileges.

5) Detain all border violators, taking photos, prints and DNA samples of said violator while at the same time, checking for out standing warrants. If no warrants are outstanding, return border violators to home country within 20 days via commercial airline and submit cost of such action, including processing and housing costs for said violator, to country of origin. If costs are not paid within 30 days, reduce any and all aid to said country by a like amount.

6) Should any country from which a border violator originates not currently receive any aid from the US, the Justice Department shall be authorized to seize or secure liens on assets owned, managed or registered to that country to the full extent of the obligation.

7) Establish new Guest Worker Visa (GWV) category, renewable every 6 months, for unskilled labor positions wherein all applicants shall provide prints, photos and DNA samples. Work permitted of such applicants shall be limited to one of several categories, including childcare, lawn/gardening, restaurant staff, cleaning and the like. Families of GWV workers are not permitted to enter US, nor will the birth of a child to one of GWV status confer citizenship to either parent or child.

8) Any violation of civil or criminal laws shall result in the forfeiture of the GWV and immediate return to originating country.

9) GWV holders shall be prohibited from claiming unemployment benefits, welfare support or free medical service.

10) The originating country of all GWV holders shall be responsible for any uninsured loss caused by the GWV, including emergency medical claims and/or claims resulting from illegal actions committed while in the US.

11) Companies who hire GWV holders shall submit to the Immigration Dept the name and GWV number of that individual, along with a description of employment tasks. Companies shall be subject to fines and penalty that fail to report employment of GWV workers, or hire border violators. GWV workers shall be paid with check, having income tax withheld. GWV workers shall not be subject to unemployment tax because they are not eligible to receive unemployment compensation.

12) Border violators, or any non-citizen not possessing a valid visa, detained by local police for any reason shall be turned over to border control officials for immediate deportation action, except if they face criminal charges in other jurisdictions.

13) GWV workers shall be prohibited for voting in local, state and federal elections.

14) Border Violators shall NOT be afforded the rights enjoyed by American citizens, as guaranteed under the constitution.

15) Public education (at institutions supported by taxpayer dollars) at any level (pre-school, kindergarten through the university level,) shall NOT be available to Border Violators (or children of Border Violators) and schools that enroll such individuals shall be subject to penalties.

16) Foreign Students (F/S) (individuals admitted to the U.S. for the purpose of attending any educational facility,) private institution or public (i.e. supported by taxpayer dollars,) must have valid student visas, such visas being in force only if the F/S attends school full-time. F/S shall be required to pay tuition, housing and related costs such that all their educational costs are fully reimbursed to the institution attended. The originating country shall pay for any and all loss caused by students while on U.S. soil.

17) Border Violators seeking emergency medical treatment shall provide pictures, fingerprints and DNA samples along with country of origin, and shall be treated, then incarcerated until information provided can be verified. Originating country shall bear the costs of medical treatment and confinement.

18) Children born in the U.S. to border violators, illegal aliens or of foreign nationals in the U.S. for any reason (including temporary visitor, school or work visas,) shall not be eligible for citizenship as circumstances of birth, nor shall the parents or parent’s family members (relatives) be conferred U.S. citizenship as a result of such births.

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