Main Essay

Prado 1

Disrupt the Status Quo

Veronica Prado

California State University, Sacramento

ETHN 100 - Ethnic America

Professor Iris Ruiz

April 28, 2025

INTRODUCTION

There are very real and important discussions that still need to be had surrounding social

issues. It is vital, in the progression of society, to understand that policies that are outdated still

very much harm many marginalized communities and it is important to bring awareness so they

can be changed for the better. The issues I plan to discuss in this paper focuses on the migrant

workers who are largely targeted by the public while still being underpaid and exploited by large

corporations. In this particular situation this societal acceptance of injustice has been slowly

molded into what it is today for decades. From the very conception of Manifest Destiny to the

blatant racism disguised as border security, the system that this country built has always been

motivated by ensuring the capital greed and wellbeing of the white upper class population.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

To have a greater understanding as to why systemic powers are shaped the way that they

are and why migrant workers historically have been viewed in such a negative light throughout

American History, it is important to do research to understand Mexico’s longstanding history

with the United States. A lot of the hateful ideologies spewed by bigoted people stems from this

long standing idea that Mexican People were trespassing on US soil. But if anyone cared to take

the time to research these claims and where they come from they would come across many

different articles discussing the timeline of how Mexico and the US had split up the land so

many years ago. What many people don’t know is that a lot of the land along the US Mexico

Border used to be Mexican land. California, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona are some of

the many states that the US had annexed back in 1848 but before the Mexican American War,

this land belonged to Mexico. And so it began in 1848 when there had been “a dispute over
 Prado 3

whether Texas ended at the Nueces River (Mexican claim) or the Rio Grande (U.S. claim).” One

thing that I learned during my research was that an American General had actually attempted to

negotiate with the President of Mexico for the land between the Nueces River and Rio Grande so

when President Herrera had refused, the General rounded up a small army to occupy the land

instead. So when Mexico had retaliated, killing the troops, this is what sparked what historically

became the Mexican American War. It can be frustrating to learn information like this when the

winning side always gets to tell their side of the story. This was the United State’s Master

Narrative that fueled the racist and xenophobic idea that Mexicans were ‘illegal aliens’.

Historic events play an integral part in the way the winning side gets to shape the

narrative. This along with backwards policies and racist political powers further emboldens the

racism that targets and puts vulnerable communities in dangerous situations. One of the most

notable and frightening moments of Mexican History that occurred at the hands of the US

government happened in 1952 with a program called, “Operation Wetback” But before this

program was put in place, there had been another program created a decade earlier called the

“Bracero Program” and it was used to recruit Mexican Migrant workers to work temporary labor

positions during World War II. They had been working in agreement with Mexico’s government

to provide temporary permits for labor since the war efforts caused a shortage in manual labor in

fruit fields and other jobs similar. And though there had been agreements to provide rights and

protection from dangerous working conditions but there have been cases where workers didn’t

have access to these protections in certain labor camps. So in the beginning of 1950, as a

response to the growing amount of labor workers, Eisenhower’s administration had implemented

a policy to begin to send the workers back.

Over the course of a year, the government had sent over 300,000 immigrants back to

Mexico, though with little regard of their safety typically sending them not to their place of

origin but any open cities across the border and when they came back, they were sent farther

away. As said in an article discussing the event, “In 1952, the government airlifted 52,000 illegal

immigrants back to the Mexican interior. The program was terminated after it ran out of funds

during its first year.” And another point I found about what occurred during this time is that,

“Even as the bracero program continued to recruit temporary Mexican workers, the Immigration

Bureau and Border Patrol led these military-style round ups, claiming to have deported one

million Mexicans. Among those deported, included many U.S. citizens of Mexican descent.”

Discussing the history behind these policies is important because it allows readers to further

think about why bigotry towards Immigration is the way that it is today.

CURRENT ISSUES

So when migrant workers are often perceived negatively, it is typically because the media

often makes them out to be people who steal jobs of “real Americans”. One of the more

prominent examples of anti immigrant rhetoric being fed into the news outlets would be the

many speeches given by Donald Trump as he said things like, ““When Mexico sends its people,

they’re not sending their best. […] They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and

they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime.

They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people” Negative rhetoric like this is what fuels

this public divide where people hide their racism and call it politics. There have been real life

cases how this impacts migrant workers and immigrants because people grow emboldened to ‘do

something’ about the border situation There had been a militia group in Texas who decided to

round up guns and caravans to track down and basically hunt immigrants along the Mexican
 Prado 5

border. In an Article I found about this, they explain how in an Immigrant Refugee Camp in

Sarabe Arizona, a group of Militia entered the camp interrogating the workers and asylum

seekers with guns and cameras flashing in their faces. As said in the text, “Humanitarian workers

with the Arizona-based advocacy group No More Deaths immediately confronted them: “This

man is filming. He’s refused to stop,” one volunteer told migrants clustered nearby. The camera

continued to pan across the camp. Only when an aid worker again implored them to leave did the

group begin to move. As he left, the leader—a 27-year-old man by the name of Cade

Lamb—audibly accused volunteers of “aiding and abetting false asylum-seekers.”” And after

this occurrence, the text also stated that, “No one was arrested for pointing a gun at migrants,

though one of the armed men had a domestic violence conviction, public records show, and

could not legally carry a weapon. An officer also warned group members that they were

trespassing according to a police report and federal court records.” These kinds of situations had

only heightened since Donald Trump had run for office back in 2016.

One of the things that many refuse to believe is that things are actually as bad as they

seem. There is this denial or straight rejection of real facts that prove that these kinds of political

figures and policies are a real danger to the wellbeing of immigrants and migrant workers. Due

to the ‘legal’ status that the system makes difficult to process, many agricultural and other labor

workers are more vulnerable to exploitation because they are afraid of speaking up for their

rights that are often being violated due to wage theft and unsafe work conditions. Another real

example of that shows how bad the bigotry and exploitation had happened just in 2021 when

there had been a sealed indictment case where there were 24 individuals charged with human

trafficking and labor exploitation of migrant workers. In the text it read, ““The newly unsealed,

54-count indictment in Georgia – “Operation Blooming Onion,” led by HSI – documents dozens
 Prado 6

of victims of modern-day slavery who were brought into the United States to be exploited under

inhumane conditions as agricultural laborers.” and then it explained how “exploitation of the

workers included being required to dig onions with their bare hands, paid 20 cents for each

bucket harvested, and threatened with guns and violence to keep them in line. The workers were

held in cramped, unsanitary quarters and fenced work camps with little or no food, limited

plumbing and without safe water. The conspirators are accused of raping, kidnapping and

threatening or attempting to kill some of the workers or their families, and in many cases sold or

traded the workers to other conspirators. At least two of the workers died as a result of workplace

conditions.” There is a reason why these things occur and it has nothing to do with a genuine

concern for border safety, it comes from a place of hatred. And that hostility before Trump’s rise

to power, had only been slowly harboring for years until someone finally gave them a reason to

act on their prejudice and hatred.

CALL TO ACTION

These are real situations created because of the long standing history that this country has

of scapegoating vulnerable communities. It is important that we as a society understand that this

is a very real problem that needs to be addressed. Although there are current policies that are

meant to protect the rights of migrant workers, one of the examples being, “The National Labor

Relations Board (NLRB) which protects the rights of employees under the National Labor

Relations Act (NLRA), regardless of immigration status.” There are still much to be done in

order to create a larger societal shift in the way we protect migrant workers and immigrants in

general. One of the most effective calls to action that I believe anyone can have access to is to

become informed of local and statewide policies, especially during election seasons, and use

your voice to vote and encourage others to do the same. Another effective way to get involved is
 Prado 7

by looking into local advocacy groups and supporting or joining any volunteer programs being

offered as well. A good example for one in Sacramento is called Norcal Resist which is a non

profit organization used to provide resources and information about a vast amount of social

issues both domestic and international.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the point of this essay is to address the ongoing issues that this country’s

policies continue to enforce that put the lives of immigrants and migrant workers in danger.

Because of a long standing historical motivation to stigmatize immigration, this fosters an

ideology that encourages hatred and racism on a systematic level. The best way to combat this

reality is to inform ourselves and others of what is happening and use our ability to vote to

change things. Also getting involved in and supporting local activist organizations that work

everyday to provide resources and outlets for people to speak up is also an integral way to keep

people informed and speak up about these very real issues. One thing that should be taken away

from this project is that knowledge and information is vital for the progression of society and no

human being is illegal on stolen land.

02/18/2025

ETHN 130

So an issue that I plan addressing in class is the exploitation of immigrant workers who are

underpaid by large corporations.

●​ Migrant workers are often perceived negatively as the media often makes them

out to be people who steal jobs of “real Americans”

●​ Migrant workers are underpaid because their need to provide for their families

forces them to take unsafe jobs that employers choose to underpay for more profit.

●​ Due to the ‘legal’ status that the system makes difficult to process, many

agricultural and other labor workers are more vulnerable to exploitation because they are

afraid of speaking up for their rights that are often being violated due to wage theft and

unsafe work conditions.

●​ The hard work of labor workers contributes to the economy but still they are left

under represented as no laws are being created to protect the rights of migrant workers

especially under the current administration.

Describe the current state of affairs.

What resources and access to resources are available or not relating to the issue at hand?

​ Use data, demographics, and other information to illustrate the issue.

​ Provide at least one case study or example.

Describe and define interventions to address the issue and/or provoke change.

Strategies and tactics. Necessary partners and leverage.

What is your ultimate goal, objective, or outcome?

How will you gauge success? Might there be unexpected outcomes?

Provide examples of what's been done in the past or a correlation to your efforts.

Clear action plan.

​ Structure of the organization, campaign, effort.

​ Define resources.

​ How will you get the word out (social media, but also think beyond social

media).

​ Conclusion.
 SOURCES

https://www.cbp.gov/border-security/along-us-borders/history

●​ “Liquor smuggling was a major concern because it too often accompanied alien

smuggling.”

●​ “In 1952, the government airlifted 52,000 illegal immigrants back to the Mexican

interior. The program was terminated after it ran out of funds during its first year. “

https://www.britannica.com/event/Mexican-American-War

“Mexican-American War, war between the United States and Mexico (April 1846–February

1848) stemming from the United States’ annexation of Texas in 1845 and from a dispute over

whether Texas ended at the Nueces River (Mexican claim) or the Rio Grande (U.S. claim).”

https://guides.loc.gov/latinx-civil-rights/bracero-program

In 1942, “This series of diplomatic accords between Mexico and the United States permitted

millions of Mexican men to work legally in the United States on short-term labor contracts

during WWII.”

https://immigrationhistory.org/item/operation-wetback/

“Even as the bracero program continued to recruit temporary Mexican workers, the Immigration

Bureau and Border Patrol led these military-style round ups, claiming to have deported one

million Mexicans. Among those deported, included many U.S. citizens of Mexican descent.”

https://www.nlrb.gov/guidance/key-reference-materials/immigrant-worker-rights
“The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) protects the rights of employees under the

National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), regardless of immigration status.”

https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/human-trafficking-forced-labor-charges-are-first-under-ices-n

ew-labor-exploitation

“The newly unsealed, 54-count indictment in Georgia – “Operation Blooming Onion,” led by

HSI – documents dozens of victims of modern-day slavery who were brought into the United

States to be exploited under inhumane conditions as agricultural laborers.”

“According to the indictment, the conspirators required the workers to pay unlawful fees for

transportation, food, and housing while illegally withholding their travel and identification

documents and subjected the workers “to perform physically demanding work for little or no

pay, housing them in crowded, unsanitary, and degrading living conditions, and by threatening

them with deportation and violence.”

“Exploitation of the workers included being required to dig onions with their bare hands, paid 20

cents for each bucket harvested, and threatened with guns and violence to keep them in line. The

workers were held in cramped, unsanitary quarters and fenced work camps with little or no food,

limited plumbing and without safe water. The conspirators are accused of raping, kidnapping and

threatening or attempting to kill some of the workers or their families, and in many cases sold or

traded the workers to other conspirators. At least two of the workers died as a result of workplace

conditions.”
“These activities took place within Georgia, Florida, Texas, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and

elsewhere.”

https://www.hrw.org/report/2018/02/28/freezer/abusive-conditions-women-and-children-us-immi

gration-holding-cells

“United States immigration authorities routinely detain men, women, and children, including

infants, in frigid holding cells, sometimes for days, when they are taken into custody at or near

the US border with Mexico. Migrants and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents alike

commonly refer to these cells as hieleras (“freezers”).”

“Women and children detained along the border usually spend one to three nights, and

sometimes longer, in CBP holding cells, where they sleep on the floor, often with only a Mylar

blanket, similar to the foil wrappers used by marathon runners, to protect them from the cold.

Border agents sometimes require them to remove and discard sweaters or other layers of

clothing, purportedly for security reasons, before they enter the holding cells.”

https://www.texastribune.org/2018/11/04/us-militia-groups-head-border-stirred-trumps-call-arms

“The Texas Minutemen, according to McGauley, have 100 volunteers en route to the Rio Grande

who want to help stop the migrants, with more likely on the way.”

“Gun-carrying civilian groups and border vigilantes have heard a call to arms in President

Donald Trump’s warnings about threats to American security posed by caravans of Central

American migrants moving through Mexico. They’re packing coolers and tents, oiling rifles and
tuning up aerial drones, with plans to form caravans of their own and trail American troops to the

border.”

https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/south-texas-border-armed-vigalantes-immigration-law-enf

orcement/

“Humanitarian workers with the Arizona-based advocacy group No More Deaths immediately

confronted them: “This man is filming. He’s refused to stop,” one volunteer told migrants

clustered nearby. The camera continued to pan across the camp. Only when an aid worker again

implored them to leave did the group begin to move. As he left, the leader—a 27-year-old man

by the name of Cade Lamb—audibly accused volunteers of “aiding and abetting false

asylum-seekers.”

“They congregated at the border for an organized mission that Gibson called “Operation Hold

the Line”—a reference to a 1990s Border Patrol operation in El Paso meant to deter migrant

crossings.”

The same day, spotters in an FBI surveillance plane saw someone pointing a weapon at a

migrant, and agents reported that people were “possibly being held at gunpoint.” The Texas

Department of Public Safety (DPS) dispatched officers, who confronted and questioned Gibson’s

group. No one was arrested for pointing a gun at migrants, though one of the armed men had a

domestic violence conviction, public records show, and could not legally carry a weapon. An

officer also warned group members that they were trespassing according to a police report and

federal court records.”​

co-border

“After seeing increasing numbers of migrants crossing the border and increasing wait times for

Border Patrol to process them, volunteers a few months ago set up a camp along the border wall,

about 15 miles east of Sasabe, Arizona.”

“Volunteers have brought down daily food and supplies to the camp. The numbers of daily

migrants have fluctuated over the past several weeks.”

●​ It is vital, in the progression of society, to understand that policies that are outdated still

very much harm many marginalized communities and it is important to bring awareness

so they can be changed for the better.

●​ The issues I plan to discuss in this presentation focuses on the migrant workers who are

largely targeted by the public while still being underpaid and exploited. In this particular

situation this societal acceptance of injustice has been slowly molded into what it is today

for decades.

●​ From the very conception of Manifest Destiny to the blatant racism disguised as border

security, the system that this country built has always been motivated by ensuring the

capital greed and wellbeing of the white upper class population.

SLIDE 3 - HISTORICAL CONTEXT

●​ To have a greater understanding as to why systemic powers are shaped the way that they

are and why migrant workers historically have been viewed in such a negative light

throughout American History, it is important to understand Mexico’s long history with

the United States. But don’t worry, that's what I’m here for.

●​ A lot of the hateful ideologies spewed by bigoted people stems from this long standing

idea that Mexican People were trespassing on US soil. What many people don’t know is

that a lot of the land along the US Mexico Border used to be Mexican land. California,

Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona are some of the many states that the US had

annexed back in 1848 but before the Mexican American War, this land belonged to

Mexico.
 ●​ Historic events such as this one play an integral part in the way the winning side gets to

control the narrative. This along with backwards policies and racist political powers

further emboldens the racism that targets and puts vulnerable communities in dangerous

situations.

SLIDE 4 - THE BRACERO PROGRAM & OPERATION WETBACK

●​ During World War II the United States created the “Bracero Program” and it was used to

recruit Mexican Migrant workers to work temporary labor positions during World War II.

●​ They had been working in agreement with Mexico’s government to provide temporary

permits for labor since the war efforts caused a shortage in manual labor in fruit fields

and other jobs similar. And though there had been agreements to provide rights and

protection from dangerous working conditions but there have been cases where workers

didn’t have access to these protections in certain labor camps.

●​ So in the beginning of 1950, as a response to the growing amount of labor workers,

Eisenhower’s administration had implemented a policy to begin to send the workers back

and it was called, “Operation Wetback”

●​ Over the course of a year, the government had sent over 300,000 immigrants back to

Mexico, though with little regard of their safety typically sending them not to their place

of origin but any open cities across the border and when they came back, they were sent

farther away. Discussing the history behind these policies is important because it allows

readers to further think about why bigotry towards Immigration is the way that it is today.
SLIDE 5 - CURRENT ISSUES

●​ So when migrant workers are often perceived negatively, it is typically because the media

often makes them out to be either criminals or some kind of thieves who steal jobs of

“real Americans”

●​ One of the things that many refuse to believe is that these situations are actually as bad as

they seem. There is this denial or straight rejection of real facts that prove that these kinds

of political figures and policies are a real danger to the wellbeing of immigrants and

migrant workers.

SLIDE 5 - ANTI-IMMIGRATION RHETORIC

●​ One of the more prominent examples of anti-immigrant rhetoric being fed into the news

outlets would be the many speeches given by Donald Trump as he said things like,

““When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. […] They’re sending

people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re

bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good

people”

●​ Negative rhetoric like this is what fuels this public divide where people hide their racism

and call it politics. There have been real life cases of how this impacts migrant workers

and immigrants because people grow emboldened to ‘do something’ about the border

situation.

SLIDE 7 - THE RESULT

●​ Back in 2018 there had been a militia group in Texas who decided to round up guns and

caravans to track down and basically hunt immigrants along the Mexican border. In an
 Article I found about this, they explain how in an Immigrant Refugee Camp in Sarabe

Arizona, a group of Militia entered the camp interrogating the workers and asylum

seekers with guns and cameras flashing in their faces.

●​ One of the sources explained how, “Only when an aid worker again implored them to

leave did the group begin to move. As he left, the leader—a 27-year-old man by the name

of Cade Lamb—audibly accused volunteers of “aiding and abetting false

asylum-seekers.” These kinds of situations had only heightened since Donald Trump had

run for office back in 2016.

●​ Another real example that shows how bad the bigotry and exploitation had become,

happened just in 2021 when there had been a sealed indictment case where there were 24

individuals charged with human trafficking and labor exploitation of migrant workers. In

the text it read, “The newly unsealed, 54-count indictment in Georgia – “Operation

Blooming Onion,’ ” and then it explained how “exploitation of the workers included

being required to dig onions with their bare hands, paid 20 cents for each bucket

harvested, and threatened with guns and violence to keep them in line. The workers were

held in cramped, unsanitary quarters and fenced work camps with little or no food,

limited plumbing and without safe water. The conspirators are accused of raping,

kidnapping and threatening or attempting to kill some of the workers or their families,

and in many cases sold or traded the workers to other conspirators. At least two of the

workers died as a result of workplace conditions.”

●​ There is a reason why these things occur and it has nothing to do with a genuine concern

for border safety, it comes from a place of hatred. And that hostility before Trump’s rise
 to power, had only been slowly harboring for years until someone finally gave them a

reason to act on their prejudice and hatred.

SLIDE 8 - CALL TO ACTION

●​ These are real situations created because of the long standing history that this country has

of scapegoating vulnerable communities. It is important that we as a society understand

that this is a very real problem that needs to be addressed.

●​ There still much to be done in order to create a larger societal shift in the way we protect

migrant workers and immigrants in general.

●​ One of the most effective calls to action that I believe anyone can have access to is to

become informed of local and statewide policies, especially during election seasons, and

use your voice to vote and encourage others to do the same. Another effective way to get

involved is by looking into local advocacy groups and supporting or joining any

volunteer programs being offered as well.

SLIDE 9 - NORCAL RESIST

●​ A good example for one in Sacramento is called Norcal Resist which is a non profit

organization used to provide resources and information about a vast amount of social

issues both domestic and international.

SLIDE 10 - CONCLUSION

●​ In conclusion, the point of this presentation is to address the ongoing issues that this

country’s policies continue to enforce that put the lives of immigrants and migrant

workers in danger.
 ●​ Because of a long standing historical motivation to stigmatize immigration, this fosters an

ideology that encourages hatred and racism on a systematic level. The best way to

combat this reality is to inform ourselves and others of what is happening and use our

ability to vote to change things.

●​ Also getting involved in and supporting local activist organizations that work everyday to

provide resources and outlets for people to speak up is also an integral way to keep

people informed and speak up about these very real issues. One thing that should be taken

away from this project is that knowledge and information is vital for the progression of

society AND…

SLIDE 11 - FINAL MESSAGE

No human being is illegal on stolen land.