I never knew this

My grandparents were Okies, they lost a farm in the Dust Bowl in Oklahoma and went to California to pick fruit. They lived in the camps for 2 years before returning to Oklahoma. I wonder if they were among the real Americans referred to here ?

During the Great Depression, anywhere from one to two million people were deported in an effort by the government to free up jobs for those who were considered “real Americans” and rid the county governments of “the problem.” The campaign, called the Mexican Reparation, was authorized by President Herbert Hoover. Although President Franklin Roosevelt ended federal support when he took office, many state and local governments continued with their efforts.

Estimates now indicate that approximately 60 percent of the people deported were children who were born in America and others who, while of Mexican descent, were legal citizens.



I wonder what the chances are today that people would load up a jalopy and travel hundreds of miles for the oppurtunity to work for poverty wages and live in a camp with no running water or indoor plumbing or dignity for that matter. But in the Great Depression beggars could not be choosers.