The history of illegal immigration in America is a sad tale filled with many lies and false promises from lawmakers and candidates for public office.

While a strong majority of American citizens have always opposed illegal immigration due to the numerous problems caused by illegal immigration, the problem has continued because the laws created by Congress have never been adequately enforced on this issue.

The illegal immigration history in the United States over the last 40 years has been created by a combination of bad legislation, market forces, and elite power groups subverting the American republic, Constitution, and Rule of Law.

There have been several major federal actions and pieces of federal legislation passed by the Congress of the United States that relates to today’s illegal immigration crisis in America.

Operation Wetback in the 1950’s

When illegal immigration became a problem in the 1950’s, President Dwight Eisenhower cracked down and enforced the existing immigration laws at the time with an aggressive deportation program called ‘Operation Wetback’. At this time, the term ‘wetback’ was not intended as a racial or ethnic slur, but was used to describe illegal immigrants that were mostly Hispanic that illegal immigrated into the United States by swimming across the Rio Grand river into Texas. The term ‘wetback’ was first used in print by the New York Times June 20, 1920

Today the term ‘wetback’ is sometimes used in the pejorative as a slur by some Americans that are angry about illegal immigration, while the historic terminology referring to ‘Operation Wetback’ is also used.

Eisenhower’s deportation program ‘Operation Wetback’ initiated in May of 1954 by the U.S. Attorney General Herbert Brownell stopped and reversed illegal immigration into America. It proved that enforcement of immigration laws is effective. It also proved that for each illegal alien deported by the federal government another 2-3 illegals will leave of their own accord in reaction to such a crackdown!

Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 also called the ‘Hart–Celler Act‘

In reaction to the 1965 Hart-Celler Act, that was implemented in 1969, an estimated 1.1 million, or half of one percent of the US population, illegal aliens entered and remained in America in the 1970’s

This destructive trend continued into the 1980’s when an estimated 1.3 million illegal immigrants entered and remained in the US.

The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 also known as “IRCA” or the ‘Simpson-Mazzoli Act‘

Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 aka ‘IIRAIRA’