by Lupita Chavez
My intention for this week’s column was to share news headlines on immigration enforcement operations in the U.S. over time. What narratives about immigration and immigrants have changed? What narratives have remained the same? What fear-based tactics have local, state, and federal authorities used against immigrant communities and their allies?
The economic crisis of 1929 exacerbated xenophobic attitudes toward Mexicans. Throughout the Great Depression, Mexican immigrants and Mexican American communities were blamed for the financial crisis the U.S. was experiencing. U.S. local, state, and federal officials saw the deportation and return of Mexicans as a “solution” to address unemployment and provide economic relief. To force Mexicans and Mexican Americans to leave the U.S., local, state, and federal authorities adopted various fear tactics, including launching immigration raids across the country. The first headline describes an immigration raid that took place in 1931 in the San Fernando Valley, where 70 Mexican nationals were arrested by immigration officials.
Source: Newspaper headline, La Opinion, January 1931, file IV-343-19, Acervo Historico Diplomatico Archivo Historico Genaro Estrada, Mexico City, Mexico
During the 1950s, U.S. immigration agencies such as the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and the U.S. Border Patrol designed and carried out a series of immigration enforcement operations across the U.S. These enforcement operations were specifically designed to target Mexican immigrants, or what government officials and the media referred to as “wetbacks.” “Wetback” is a derogatory term and a racial slur that emerged in the 20th century to refer to undocumented Mexican workers. The term alludes to the idea that Mexicans crossed the river—in this case, the Rio Grande—with their clothes wet, implying unauthorized entry. U.S. immigration officials carried out these enforcement operations to “control” the rise of undocumented Mexican migration flows to the U.S. This series of operations in 1954 became known as “Operation Wetback.” It is estimated that roughly 1 million Mexican migrants were apprehended in 1954. The headline below is one example of many announcements of upcoming immigration raids. This particular raid was planned to take place in Chicago.
Source: Newspaper headline, ‘20,000 To be Deported: ‘Wetback’ Roundup Begins Here Friday.’ Chicago Daily News, September 14, 1954, 56364/043.4, box 21925, National Archives, Washington, D.C.
The third image is a headline from the Chicago Tribune summarizing how many individuals were detained and deported as part of the immigration enforcement operation Midway Blitz. The operation was launched in September 2025 by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). According to DHS, it was launched in “honor” of Katie Abraham, a U.S. citizen who was killed in a hit-and-run by an undocumented immigrant. However, beyond that, Operation Midway Blitz has been one of many immigration enforcement operations intentionally designed to target sanctuary cities and Democratic governors who have publicly denounced the Trump administration.
Source: The Chicago Tribune, March 31, 2026
