U.S. Customs and Immigration buildings at the U.S.-Mexico border looking north from Tijuana
Date:1922 1922 (Calisphere)
Date:1922 1922 (Calisphere)
Where is the main border? How did it start? What were the intentions for this border? The Mexican American border was first introduced in 1924 when the Immigration act of 1924 was passed. This Immigration Act of 1924 limited the number of Mexicans that were allowed to enter the United States. The San Diego border is one of the biggest borders in the nation. It stopped Mexicans from entering by dividing up San Ysidro and Tijuana. When the border started its main intention was to stop drug trafficking but it did not stop there. It also prohibited many Mexicans from having the liberty to enter the United States.
The Southern California border runs about 2,000 miles and it started in 1904 when the border was patrolled by man known as, Mounted guards. This group was a total of 75 men that were farm owners from El Paso, Texas. The Mounted Guards were there to protect their land from Mexicans and Chinese Immigrants that were trying to cross the border. By 1915 the Mounted guards had become a larger group and it was a job now. From there the border patrols, Texas rangers, and the military soldiers that were placed out on the border had a bit of experience now. They all expanded out in 1924 when congress passed the labor appropriation act, establishing that the U.S Border was now an official job that was meant to secure the borders between each country. The borders main focus was that of drug and alcohol smuggling since the prohibition of alcohol had just started. The smuggling of drugs and alcohol became a huge chaos because Mexicans were the targets of been the smugglers. Kelly Hernandez states in her first chapter of her book, many border patrols and Texas rangers began making their ideas that Mexicans were violent and that they should not have the right to enter the United States at all. What most of them had in mind most of the time was to kill or be killed (Hernandez).
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United States Border Patrol
1964-01-01 (Calisphere) |
This border went from just Arizona to California. More and more men were recruited to join the border patrol. 450 more men were recruited by the end of 1928. More and more training went onto knowing who to stop. By 1940, 712 agents were added making the border patrol enforced by about 1,531 officers. Officers kept getting added to stop immigrants from crossing the border, they have been trying their hardest to stop as many as they can but one way or another Mexicans always find a way in. There has been thousands of Mexicans that have crossed the border by walking miles and miles of the desert, they’ve reached American Soil by swimming across the All American Canal, and they don’t stop there. They have also found a way to cross over by riding on top trains and getting access to false illegal documentations. Mexicans don’t have bad intentions when they think about crossing over, all they want to do is find a job to help support their family and give them a better future. They risk leaving their families, friends, loved ones, homes, jobs, memories, pride and sometimes their own lives in order to make it to the other side.
This Article goes more in depth of how the Border was built and why it was built, to stop terrorism also known as Mexican immigrants from crossing over.
This Article goes more in depth of how the Border was built and why it was built, to stop terrorism also known as Mexican immigrants from crossing over.
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