texancutie
Posts: 322
Joined: 7/23/2005 Status: offline
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The word "wetback" became widely used when the United States became involved in a military operation known as Operation Wetback. Post World War II, millions of Mexicans came to the US as the demand for cheap agricultural laborers increased. Between 1944 and 1954, known as the "decade of the wetback," the number of illegal Mexican alien workers swimming across the Rio Grande to the US increased. As a result, in 1954 Operation Wetback got under way as a national reaction against illegal immigration. In 1954 INS agents discovered over 1 million illegal immigrants and many were deported to Mexico. Some even with their American born children. Many also fled back due to fear of potential violence. We all know the etymology of the term "wetback", which is a derogatory term for "an illegal Mexican immigrant or worker who crosses the Rio Grande into the United States, sometimes swimming to get across. One dictionary states the word originated in 1929, and another states the 1940s. Regardless of where, how, or who originated it....it is still derogatory and expresses animosity.
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