1929 and 2025: almost one century apart, yet both years feature Mexican-Americans and Mexican immigrants receiving wrongful deportations. The recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in democratic-run cities reveal the unconstitutional nature of the mass deportations enforced by the Trump administration, while also having stark parallels to the Mexican Repatriation of the 1930s.
The Mexican Repatriation occurred during the Great Depression, a period of American economic and political turmoil. The economic pressure Americans faced led to the belief that Mexican-Americans and Mexican immigrants were the main reason for the economic downturn. With rhetoric endorsed by then-President Herbert Hoover, such as creating “American jobs for real Americans,” the support for the deportation of immigrants became a sellable point to the public.
One of the horrible atrocities committed during the Great Depression was the deportations in Los Angeles. One of these instances was the infamous raid of La Placita Olvera, which took place on Feb. 26, 1931. During this raid, immigration officials sealed off the area, demanded proof of citizenship, and deported the approximately 400 people within the residential zone.
The deportations during the Great Depression did not occur because of any criminal history the victims possessed but because they were of Mexican descent. Deporting people based on their ethnic, racial, and physical characteristics is not only racist but also unconstitutional. The unconstitutionality of these deportations stems from the fact that these deportations occurred without any legal protections or due process. Due process refers to the constitutional rights that people have during legal proceedings when their rights to life, liberty or property are infringed upon by the federal, state or local government. However, this was not granted during the 1930s, as the detainees were rounded up regardless of citizenship status.
In present-day Los Angeles, we are once again witnessing the unconstitutionality of federal ICE raids in predominantly Latino neighborhoods. There have been many cases of masked men wearing bulletproof vests, coming out of cars and kidnapping people. One such case was in Downtown Los Angeles, where a man riding his bike near the Immigrant Defender Law Center was ambushed by federal officers wearing face masks. Another case is the detainment of Pedro Vasquez. Vasquez said that while waiting for the bus to his construction job, he was arrested by masked agents without being asked for identification or given any reason for his detainment. Another case is the detainment of dozens of day laborers in the parking lots of Home Depot and the Ambiance Apparel clothing manufacturers who were detained on the basis of “fictitious employee documents.” Even more recently was the detainment of 200 immigrant laborers at Glass House, a licensed cannabis farm in Ventura County. On July 10, ICE clashed with civilians, resulting in the injury of 12 people.
In all of these cases, the tactics commanded by the Trump administration reflect the unconstitutional deportation of immigrants of the Mexican Repatriation.
For instance, Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong’s order describes how an abundance of evidence shows that ICE agents are arresting people “based on their race, accents, or the work they’ve engaged,” which is in direct opposition to the “Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable government seizure.” In response, Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, argued that the ruling was preventing ICE agents from removing “truly the worst of the worst from Golden State communities.” If this were true, 47% of the detained immigrants since June would not lack a criminal record, nor would 30% of immigrants detained lack a criminal conviction. If McLaughlin’s statement were true, U.S. citizens, along with hardworking undocumented immigrants, would not be detained on the basis of race and without due process or a judicial warrant.
With the lack of due process and the widespread fear of being detained based on the color of your skin or your ethnic appearance, it is difficult to support the notion that these deportations are constitutional on any level. With the fear present throughout the city every time you step out your home, it makes one wonder whether these deportations are truly to make America great again, or if it is simply for the benefit of a select few entities profiting from not only the exploitation of immigrant labor but from their deportations as well.
Alex Alejo is an Opinion Staff Intern for the Summer 2025. He can be reached at aalejosa@uci.edu.
Edited by Rebecca Do.