
Mexicans returning home by trains: Courtesy of the Los Angeles Public Library, 1932.
The Mexican Repatriation coincided with the Great Depression and is an incredibly consequential hidden history concerning the rights of immigrant laborers. Examples like the betabeleros of Michigan show us how immigrants’ rights were ignored and the government’s responsibility to protect workers who contributed to its economy was disregarded. The same disregard for the rights of immigrant laborers and the government's evasion of its responsibility to these workers continues today.