Operation Wetback was a domestic military-style operation conducted under the Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower to remove large numbers of illegal immigrants from America in 1954.

Of note is the observation that for every single illegal immigrant deported under Operation Wetback, another two illegals self-deported in reaction to the enforcement of America’s existing immigration laws. This was a very important time in the history of illegal immigration in the US as Operation Wetback showed us that if illegals left, the results were improved conditions and wages for US workers and legal immigrants.

America’s Operation Wetback originated from a request by the Mexican government to stop the illegal entry of Mexican laborers who were fueling US illegal immigration.

Many believe that Operation Wetback was a response to American citizen and legal immigrant efforts to report illegal immigrants and to the Bracero Program which was an agreement made with Mexico on September 27, 1942.

The Bracero Program agreement allowed Mexican farmworkers to enter the United States temporarily for seasonal farm work and then return home. Unfortunately, large numbers of Mexican workers violated this agreement and never returned to Mexico as agreed, but instead remained in the US as illegal immigrants.

The term “wetback” was used to indicate that someone had swum across the Rio Grande River to illegally enter the United States and is now considered to be a racial pejorative.

President Eisenhower commissioned General Joseph Swing, the head of INS, and Border Patrol Chief Harlon Carter to head up Operation Wetback and crackdown on illegal immigration.

Operation Wetback safely and humanely deported 1,074,277 illegal immigrants turning them over to Mexican authorities. Illegal immigrant supporters in the US point out that some American citizens were deported during the operation, but most of those were minors under the age of 18 who were born to illegal immigrant parents.

American authorities felt it was best to keep minors with their families during the removals.

After Operation Wetback showed the world that American immigration and border laws would be strictly enforced, illegal immigration and the resulting illegal immigration problems declined for more than a decade afterward!