November 11, 2015

Donald Trump Wants to Model His Immigration Plan After Something Called “Operation Wetback”


At Tuesday night’s debate, Ohio Gov. John Kasich ripped into Donald Trump about his plan to deport 11 million immigrants should he become president. “Come on, folks,” he said, exasperated. “We all know you can’t pick them up and ship them back across the border. It’s a silly argument. It’s not an adult argument. It makes no sense!”

In response, Trump invoked historical precedent: “Let me just tell you that Dwight Eisenhower. Good president. Great president. People liked him. I liked him. I Like Ike, right? The expression, ‘I like Ike.’ Moved 1.5 million illegal immigrants out of this country. Moved them just beyond the border, they came back. Moved them again beyond the border, they came back. Didn’t like it. Moved ’em waaaay south, they never came back. Dwight Eisenhower. You don’t get nicer, you don’t get friendlier. They moved 1.5 million people out. We have no choice. We. Have. No. Choice.” (You can see video of the entire exchange above.)

The Eisenhower program Trump was referring to, if not by name, was called “Operation Wetback.” Implemented by President Eisenhower in the 1950s, the program was frighteningly simple: round up undocumented immigrants and drop them off in Mexico by the busload. The more obscure the location, the better. Dozens of the operation’s deportees died. The program was initiated by then-Attorney General Herbert Brownell Jr., who ordered his officers to shoot “wetbacks” trying to enter America. Ultimately, it wasn’t even as successful as Trump claims: Some researchers consider the 1.5 million-deported figure to be highly exaggerated.

White supremacists picked up on Trump’s reference immediately:

While the rest of us took to Google:

 

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

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