Mass Deportations: The Past as Prologue

Join the California Migration Museum, LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, and leading voices across the immigration policy, education, and activist communities in a plática (talk) to consider how the past informs the present and what lessons we can learn from Mexican Repatriations that happened 100 years ago.

In the 1930s, more than a million people were coerced into leaving California and sent across the southern border to Mexico, right in downtown LA. These removals became known as Mexican Repatriations, but the majority of those forced to leave were actually born in the United States. In most cases, these U.S. citizens had never visited the “home” to which they were now expected to return.

Now, as the Trump administration’s plans for a new wave of mass deportations take center stage, join us to revisit the lessons learned in the past.

Panelists

• Karla Estrada. Immigrant justice activist & narrator of CalMigration’s immersive experience, Ni de Aquí, Ni de Allá 

• Dr. Francisco Balderrama. CSU Los Angeles Emeritus Professor, Decade of Betrayal: Mexican Repatriation in the 1930s 

• Angélica Salas. Executive Director, The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) 

• Katy Long. Founder & Director, California Migration Museum