LA County Officials Issue Formal Apology For 1930s Repatriation Of More Than 1 Million Citizens To Mexico
LOS ANGELES (CBS) - The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors issued a formal apology for the repatriation of more than 1 million U.S. citizens who were forced to relocate to Mexico in the 1930s.
Supervisor Gloria Molina recommended the apology to those of Mexican ancestry who were coerced to leave the United States in the face of threats and acts of violence beginning in 1929.
It is estimated that 2 million people were moved in the mass migration and about 60 percent of those were born in the U.S.
About 400,000 U.S. citizens and legal residents were moved to Mexico from California alone.
"United States citizens and legal residents were separated from their families and country and were deprived of their livelihood and United States Constitutional rights, and many were never reunited with their families," Molina said.
Regrettably, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors participated in these efforts."
Following raids on Mexican-American communities, families were often forced to abandon property, which might then be sold as "payment" for transportation to Mexico, Molina said.
The Legislature formally apologized for the repatriation in 2005. A commemorative plaque will be installed at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes Sunday.
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