During the various decades of 1920 to 1960, immigration policy toward Mexicans was influenced by America’s economic status at each decade. During this period there was much fluctuation in attitudes and policies toward immigration. America saw immigration policy go from an almost invisible border in the 1920’s to massive military-like roundups of immigrants in the 1950’s. During the 1920’s while the Immigration act of 1924 was all but halting European and Asian immigration, thousands of Mexicans were allowed to cross the border without any trouble from the new anti-immigration legislation so that Mexicans could work seasonally in the fields. When Depression hit in the thirties, anti-Mexican sentiments ran high and the "Federal Government helped where it could to rid the country of Mexicans.”(Cardoso 46). With the involvement of the United States in World War II, the demand for manpower in agriculture and war production industries increased immensely. Therefore, hundreds of thousands of Mexicans were given the opportunity not only to work but to work in higher-paying occupations as well. After World War II the American public became aware of the numbers of Mexicans crossing the border and again supported measures to stifle immigration. “Operation Wetback” which was a campaign to deport masses of Mexicans back into the interior of Mexico took effect during the postwar period.In 1924 the Federal Government sought to put a strangle hold on immigration and this was accomplished by passing the Immigration Act of 1924. This act put many Jim Crow-like restrictions on immigrants like literacy tests, and physical exams. The act also barred those who were more than half Indian to enter the United States. This piece of legislation was a result of a high sense of nativism in America at this time period. Although the majority of the public supported these restrictionist measures, they were not ap...
