History Lesson

One of the activities that we have for each group that comes to visit us, is something we call Border Games. We take the group out to the countryside near the town, and right up to the fence to do some activities, and learn more about the history of the United States/Mexico border. For those of you who know nothing about the border, the history of it is incredibly interesting. And for those of you who hate history (like me), note that even I get a kick out of this stuff when it's applicable to what I'm doing :)

We start in the year 1550- who inhabited this territory then? (By this, I refer to the present day United States/Mexico border).

Not Mexicans. Not Americans.

The land belonged to the native peoples.

In 1819, the border land would have been considered New Spain, but also the land of Native Peoples (still).

It wasn't until 1821 that Mexicans claimed their independence from Spain, and the land you are *figuratively* standing on became Mexican land.

When did this land finally become the actual border you may ask?

In 1853 the United States completed the Gadson Purchase, which in 1854 established the southern borders of what is today Arizona and New Mexico. The invisible border between the United States and Mexico has been the same since.

However...

In this 300 years of history, it was not people crossing the border (a topic we as a country are soooooo fond of these days). It was in fact, the border crossing groups of people. Most specifically, groups of native people, who had been established in the area for many years.

Why is this important?

In 1910-1920, Mexico was warring with Pancho de Villa. Woodrow Wilson eventually broke a neutrality pact to deploy American military to the United States/Mexico border, to stop the surge of Pancho de Villa and his troops. Pancho de Villa was defeated, and the border continued to be peaceful (for the most part).

Then, in 1924, the United States formed the United States Border Patrol, for 2 main reasons:
1) to enforce Prohibition (1920-1933)
2) to enforce the Chinese Exclusion Act (1886).

In 1930, the Great Depression brought a great fear upon the country, and with this fear, the first mass deportation of people from the United States to Mexico. This deportation included United States citizens, who had been in the same place for years, but had been crossed BY the border.

In 1942, as World War II was in full swing, and our men were out fighting for their country, our country's women joined the workforce. We are all familiar with the image of Rosie the Riveter, taking her stand for justice by working in factories. What seems to be rather unknown to most, was that Rosie and her fellow ladies were joined by another force of workers: Mexicans.

The Bracero Program was begun in 1942 to compensate for the lack of workers in the United States. Originally started to be a 5 year program, it stopped when the war ended, and the men came back home to work.

JUST KIDDING. The men of the United States didn't go back to work. Because of the GI Bill, men went to school, and the Bracero Program was renewed. In fact, contracted laborers from Mexico and Latin America were continually brought to the United States from 1942 to.....



1964. It was in 1964 that 2 main groups expressed their concern about the Bracero Program. The Unions argued that the Bracero Program suppressed wages for hard working American citizens. The Civil Rights Movement was concerned that the Bracero Program was simply an example of legalized slavery. (Braceros could only work for the 1 person to whom they were contracted, which led to a lot of abuse/taking advantage of the workers).

Therefore, the Bracero Program ended.

Having been very used to cheap labor, the United States quickly found a solution to their desire for more- the Border Industrialization Act, which was enacted in 1965. This Act created a 25 mile area to both the north and the south of the United States/Mexico border free of tariffs and taxes, in which the States placed factories, and took complete advantage of cheaper labor.

Because of this, a system of factories was started on the border. This attracted the poor population to the border of Mexico, and thus, border town populations exploded.

As we fast forward a bit, we reach 1994, in which 3 pivotal events took place. They are?




...........


If you guessed NAFTA as one, you are right! The other 2 (of course), were the Zapatista revolt, and the carryout of Operation Blockade.

With the implementation of NAFTA, Mexico was required to do 3 things to enter the treaty.

1. Change their constitution to allow for the sale of communal lands
2. Stop charging tariffs on United States and Canadian commodities
3. Remove all farm subsidies.

Mexico complied with all the terms; the United States actually increased the amount of subsidies that their farms were receiving, creating an incredibly unfair market for Mexican farmers.

Skipping over the Zapatista revolt, I'll quickly explain Operation Blockade.

Changed to Operation Hold the Line (which supposedly just sounds more appealing), this was carried out by the United States Border Patrol in El Paso, Texas in 1994 (approved in 1993), as a way of deterring illegal migrants from entering into El Paso. It was basically a large, expensive game of Red Rover, Red Rover, Let the Mexicans come over (and be detained), and it worked. Because of its success, Southern California implemented Operation Gate Keeper. This blocking of entrances into the United States subsequently funneled migrants more and more toward Arizona and New Mexico, until ultimately, the Agua Prieta/Douglas crossing was and is the busiest of migrant traffic in the history of border crossings.

This was extremely long, and I have dishes to wash! I hope everyone learned a little something :)

On a side note, I'm planning on coming home in the middle of June, and can't wait to see family and friends!!