April 2, 1999
by Jacob G. Hornberger
Mexico's War for Independence
Prologue
In 1910, Mexico celebrated the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the war for Mexican independence from Spain. The political climate in Mexico was peaceful and orderly. It would not last. In 1867, Mexican forces had defeated the French occupation army and had captured and executed Hapsburg Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, whom France had installed as emperor of Mexico. Benito Juárez reassumed the presidency of Mexico and remained in power until his death in 1872. He was followed by Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada, who in turn was ousted by Porfirio Díaz in 1876.
Díaz would serve as a "benevolent dictator" until 1910. On the day after the centennial celebrations, Díaz announced the result of the presidential election: 99 percent in his favor. This sparked the Mexican Revolution of 1910.
Madero, Zapata, Villa
Initially, there were three factions in the revolution: one led by Francisco I. Madero, another by Emiliano Zapata, and the third by Pancho Villa. Díaz jailed Madero but he was able to escape to the United States. Madero met with fellow conspirators in San Antonio, declared the election results fraudulent, and began planning the revolution. Zapata's forces revolted in the state of Morelos under the slogan "land and liberty." Villa fought in the north and attracted an audience of thousands of Americans on El Paso, Texas, rooftops when he successfully attacked Ciudad Juárez. Díaz resigned and Madero assumed the presidency. But Madero was soon murdered by agents of Mexican Gen. Victoriano Huerta, who then assumed the presidency. Zapata and Villa continued their fight against Huerta and were joined by another faction led by Venustiano Carranza. Mexico was now engaged in a full-scale revolution that would last for much of the decade. (The situation was made even more complex by American military invasions at Veracruz in 1914 to redeem U.S. "military honor" and into Chihuahua in 1916 in an unsuccessful attempt to capture Pancho Villa - all without a congressional declaration of war.)
Here's how T.R. Fehrenbach described the situation in his book Fire and Blood: A History of Mexico: "This was the `poor, bleeding Mexico'... a country torn by mindless struggles between emerging rival warlords for power. In the towns and cities men went armed, and Constitutionalist deputies carried pistols into the halls of congress. Some authorities estimated the anarchy and warfare killed as many as two million Mexicans. Whatever the cause, the net population dropped by several hundred thousands between 1910 and 1920."
War Caused Largest Human Migration
, and he had with him a group of boys
of the best families of Monterrey and Mexico. For about six months
we enjoyed lots of festivities, like dances and banquets. It
was March of 1913 when they told us that the Carranzistas were
going to attack the town and that we had to get out immediately.
So we took with us the most necessary things and left in horse-drawn
carriages; it was a long caravan escorted by federal troops.
It took us about three days to reach Nuevo Laredo. We lived in
Nuevo Laredo for about six months and often crossed to Laredo,
Texas, to go shopping, see the picture shows, or visit friends.
It was at this time that I met my future husband, Matías
de Llano. Rumors started that the Carranzistas were going to
attack Nuevo Laredo and that the federals were going to burn
the bridge. So the refugees crossed into Laredo, Texas."The situation was the same for thousands of other Mexican families. The Mexican Revolution resulted in one of one of history's largest human migrations. Here's how Matt S. Meier and Feliciano Ribera described it in their book Mexican Americans — American Mexicans: "The 1910 revolution, a period of incredible violence and confusion, directly affected the Southwest. Out of 15 million Mexicans an estimated one million lost their lives in the decade of revolution, and there was a large-scale displacement of people. Thousands fled from the countryside into the larger towns and cities of Mexico; at the same time other thousands fled northward to the United States. No one knows precisely how many Mexicans were involved in this great exodus; one estimate holds that more than one million Mexicans crossed over into the Southwest between 1910 and 1920... These displaced people greatly increased the population of Mexican American border towns and barrios. Despite plans to the contrary, many ultimately settled in the United States since they found comfort and cultural security in the familiar milieu of Mexican American communities."
"The wave of Mexican immigrants brought to the United States by the revolution included some who managed to escape with enough capital to start businesses in southwestern barrios. Among them also were landowners, merchants, and intellectuals... At the same time that the revolution was causing thousands of peones to migrate, the demand for workers in the Southwest was growing rapidly."
Migration Has Lessons for the 20th Century
The ease by which this enormous human migration took place was the result of one crucial factor: after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, the border with Mexico remained open. Mexican citizens had been free to do what Mexicans and the Spanish had done for centuries — travel to what had not long before been the northern part of their country. (The U.S. Border Patrol was not established until 1924 and even then was so poorly staffed that it had little significant effect on the ability of Mexican citizens to freely cross into the United States.) Mexicans would cross the border to visit, to live, to work, or to start a business. Of course, visiting and working did not automatically translate into American citizenship. Open borders meant that Mexicans retained their Mexican citizenship while living or working in the United States, much as Americans living or working abroad today retain their American citizenship.
Economic and political conditions during the Great Depression reversed the flow of immigrants into the United States. An estimated 500,000 to 1,000,000 Mexicans returned to Mexico during the 1930s. Of course, they were "encouraged" to return by President Franklin Roosevelt and the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service.
During the 1930s, the INS conducted a series of well-publicized raids on Mexican citizens living and working in the United States. No place was secure from the clutches of the INS; for example, one infamous raid took place on Mexican families who were picnicking in a Los Angeles park. The message President Roosevelt and the INS sent out to Mexican citizens, whom previous Americans had welcomed for decades, was loud and clear: "You're not welcome here any longer. Get out of our country or face involuntary repatriation to Mexico." Never mind that Mexicans had been able to freely come into United States since 1848, had legally started families and businesses, had legally purchased homes and other properties, had secured legal employment, had contributed to American prosperity, and had paid taxes. (Of course, it was not the only time that the U.S. government used immigration controls in such a way. It also used them to reject Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany.)
It is impossible to measure the degree of suffering among the hundreds of thousands of Mexicans who migrated back to Mexico during the 1930s. They pulled together their meager belongings and organized their caravans back to Mexico. Those who remained would often sing to those who were departing "Las Golondrinas," the "Auld Lang Syne" of Mexico. The travail was especially difficult for those families whose children had been born in the United States and who, therefore, were American citizens. The older children sometimes refused to return to Mexico with their parents. Those children who did return were often teased by Mexican children for speaking English.
Does America Really Need a War
On Mexican Migrants?
The federal government's treatment of Mexican citizens in the 1930s didn't stop Mexican Americans from serving in World War II. Here's what Meier and Ribera wrote:
More than 300,000 Mexican Americans served in the armed forces during World War II. Most enlisted in the army, and based on their percentage of the total population, more Chicanos served in combat divisions than any other ethnic group... Their valor helped them garner proportionately more military honors than any other ethnic group. Of 14 Texans awarded the Medal of Honor, five were Mexican Americans. By the end of the war 17 Mexican Americans had earned the Medal of Honor. Five were awarded posthumously.
Does the United States today truly need a war on Mexican immigrants — a Berlin Wall along our southern border — or INS killings of illegal entrants — or the forcible repatriation of Cuban refugees into communism — or raids on American homes and businesses — or deportations of fathers and mothers of American citizens - or foreigners dying of thirst on lonely deserts or drowning on the high seas while trying to enter the United States?
For more than 75 years, the American people had a rational and humane immigration policy: one of openess and friendship along the southern border. Isn't this the only policy that is consistent with principles of economic liberty, the Statue of Liberty, and loving thy neighbor as thyself?
(Mr. Hornberger is founder and president of The Future of Freedom Foundation in Fairfax, Va., and the co-editor of The Case for Free Trade and Open Immigration. He is the co-editor of "The Case for Free Trade and Open Immigration").
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