Talk:Operation Wetback

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Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment[edit]

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 24 August 2021 and 10 December 2021. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Seththrowgen. Peer reviewers: SamPopham00.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 05:45, 17 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

"Successfully"[edit]

The use of the word "Successfully" implies a positive outcome was reached through this racist practice, and should likely be removed in order to avoid the appearance of support for such programs. Thank you.—Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.86.148.14 (talk • contribs)

The word “success” implies no value judgements, only the achievement of a stated objective. —Wiki Wikardo 18:22, 7 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I would argue to look at the number of actual undocumented workers deported and the number of U.S. citizens deported. These workers weren't allowed to collect final wages or even tell their families they were being deported. Cathoos (talk) 03:44, 9 March 2008 (UTC)Cathoos[reply]

While that might be true, what does that have to do with the word "successfully?" 71.204.49.76 (talk) 01:45, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I would want to have more about U.S. Citizens deported by accident. How? The article could use expansion here. Sob stories about illegals not being allowed to tell anyone they were being deported etc. should be toned down, though. That's the price of crime. 76.184.52.41 (talk) 07:37, 22 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

“Wetback”[edit]

This is a very offensive term and shows the racism that existed in the government. I think it was term used more so in the past because almost no one I know uses that term. Cathoos (talk) 03:27, 9 March 2008 (UTC)Cathoos[reply]

OK, I’m altering the article accordingly—it is kind of a difficult term to pin down in one sentence, because it is used, come to think of it, to refer to recently arrived-seeming Latino immigrants—it’s even been used by Norteños to refer to their southern bretheren. Given its history, I’d be surprised to hear it in New York to refer to a Puerto Rican here illegally. But since it’s rarely used by people who’ve actually recently run a check into a person’s legal status, and only then fastidiously applied after a careful review of the facts, I will concede it’s not used to refer exclusively to illegal aliens. —Hey, Wiki!

"Puerto Rican here illegally" As far as I know any Puerto Rican can live in the US legally, and travel under a US passport. I do not believe the slur 'Wetback' is normally applied to Puerto Ricans. Note that Puerto Ricans did not cross the Rio Grand and are not stereotyped as doing agricultural work, so the origins of the slur 'wetback' would not apply to them. Puerto Ricans are subjected to a unique set of slurs (see West Side Story) originating in New York City.

Doesn't the "wet" refer exclusively to to sweat? If it referred to crossing the river wouldn't it be 'wetpants'?
Actually, here in Texas, its heard. Not often, and as a racial slur, but it is heard, mainly in the southwest US. Leobold1 (talk) 17:17, 21 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]
how could it show proof the gov was racist, when the term wasn't derogatory back then? It was named literaly after the source of the term and just stuck in a way that it became racist over time due to usage. It would be like saying in ten years the term illegal immigrant is racist. Oh wait, there are already people doing just that. Get it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 160.109.98.44 (talk) 16:51, 10 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

A term that reduces a nation of people to a portion of their anatomy wasn't derogatory in 1954? You may wish to rethink that. Bustter (talk) 07:16, 25 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

It's the same way that mongoloid, cretin, and retard were not derogatory names when first introduced. Stop with the retroactive PC. C6541 (Talk ↔ Contribs) 22:30, 30 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]
see Wikipedia:Offensive material. See also [1]. Wtmitchell (talk) (earlier Boracay Bill) 01:48, 31 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

"Wetback" was not an ethnic slur as originally used. It was a slang term use to describe a certain type of lawbreaker, the illegal entrant from Mexico; similar to other slang terms such as "dip" for pickpocket, etc.. The slur came to applying it to all persons of Mexican origin. It is only racist as such to people who think all laws restricting immigration are racist in principle.

A future effort to deport Mexican illegals could easily be called "Wetback II", without any ethnic slur. 76.184.52.41 (talk) 07:46, 22 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Numbers[edit]

In "Past U.S. Mass Deportations Left Dark Mark," (Chicago Tribune, 2015.11.13, pp. 1 & 15) Kate Linthicum says "The Eisenhower administration initiative deported closer to 300,000 people, according to historians, and was accompanied by scores of deaths and shattered families" (p. 15). Do we have an authoritative source on our figures? She also cites Professor Mae Ngai (Columbia University) as saying that 88 people "died from heat exhaustion wile being deported" (ib.). Kdammers (talk) 20:43, 13 November 2015 (UTC) And I believe the Wik article on the Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower gives a figure of around 80,000, with a caution about claims of around a million.Kdammers (talk) 06:00, 15 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]

That depends on the definition of "authoritative". An "On the Issues" entry at the end of the Sources section includes a link to a page that lists 1.3 million as the deportation number claimed by the INS. Counting those who left under threat of deportation, an 'official' 2.1 million number is provided. These numbers are from FactCheck. (Interestingly, but outside the scope of this article, FactCheck also clarifies that 3.4 million were deported (or left under the threat thereof) during the Truman presidency, and that Truman said "Everyone suffers from the presence of these illegal immigrants in the community." —ADavidB 13:07, 16 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Worthless Graph[edit]

The graph is totally worthless without any title or labels. Is it showing the number of immigrants returned, accepted, their caloric intake, kilometers traveled, peanuts per liter at whatever temperature Kelvin? 161.97.25.32 (talk) 19:43, 18 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]

The file content says it's "returns and removals", so I added that to the caption. —ADavidB 16:39, 19 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Wiki Education assignment: Adding Immigrants Quantitative Sources for Latinx Immigration History[edit]

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 17 January 2022 and 6 May 2022. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Imsotired2025 (article contribs).

Wikipedia Ambassador Program course assignment[edit]

This article is the subject of an educational assignment at Boston College supported by the Wikipedia Ambassador Program during the 2013 Q1 term. Further details are available on the course page.

The above message was substituted from {{WAP assignment}} by PrimeBOT (talk) on 15:54, 2 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

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