Operation Wetback was an immigration law enforcement initiative by the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. It was created by Joseph May Swing, a retired United States Army lieutenant general and head of the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). The program was implemented in June 1954 by U.S. Attorney General Herbert Brownell.[1] The short-lived operation used military-style tactics to remove Mexican immigrants from the United States. Although aimed at undocumented Mexican immigrants, some American citizens and legal Mexican immigrants were also deported.[2][3] Statistics from the Department of Homeland Security show that there were 17,695 removals and 232,769 returns during the 1955 fiscal year from July 1, 1954, to June 30, 1955. The program ended a few months after the 1955 fiscal year.[4][5] Nowadays, the term ’wetback’ can be considered insulting and contemptuous.[6]

For more, see Wikipedia: Operation Wetback - Wikipedia

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