CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE REPORTING IN TWO LOS ANGELES DAILIES OF 11 MEXICAN DEPORTATIONS AND EMIGRATION FROM THE UNITED STATES A thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Mass Communication by Ricardo Chavira / January, 1976 Short title: REPORTING OF MEXICAN DEPORTATIONS AND EMIGRATION The thesis of Ricardo Chavira is approved: California State University, Northridge December, 1975 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT v INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER I 8 CHAPTER II 46 CHAPTER III 86 SUMMARY & CONCLUSIONS 106 BIBLIOGRAPHY 115 iv ABSTRACT REPORTING IN TWO LOS ANGELES DAILIES OF MEXICAN DEPORTATIONS AND EMIGRATION FROM THE UNITED STATES by Ricardo Chavira Master of Arts in Mass Communication January, 1976 This study presents a description and analysis of Mexican ~rp.igration and deportation reporting in The Los Angeles Times and J:.cq~ Angeles' Spanish-language daily, La Opinion. The 1930's, 1950's and 1970's have been selected as the periods of study because they are decades in which mass deportations ef undocumented Mexicans from the United States have occurred. These events, as might be expected, attracted a large amount of c;lttention from the media in Los Angeles. The study explores the changes in repnrting patterns in these three decades. Other areas of concern are the differences (;lnd similarities between the two newspapers and the e~tent to which they relied upon government and non-government sources of infor- v mation. The study concludes that in each of the decades both news­ papers consistently printed stories in which government authorities detailed the so-called problems caused by "illegal aliens. 11 There is no evidence that the newspapers made attempts to determine the truth of the charges. It is also concluded that La Opinion generally seemed more concerned with the human impact of the mass deportations. The Times very often appearyd concerned only with the alleged savings to taxpayers that the deportations represented. vi INTRODUCTION The Subject and Its Importance For hundreds of years Mexicans have moved in, out and through what is now the Southwestern United States. While this movement has been continuous, its pace has at times been quickened 1 by developments in Mexico or the United States. Over the decades Mexican immigrant laborers have been both vigorously sought by U.S. business interests and governmental representatives only to be later driven out by mass deportations. These facts have been chronicled by such authors as Julian Samora. 2 Deportations and emigration is a subject area which these two newspapers, The Los Angeles Times and La Opinion, have been reporting continuously for at least fifty years. The movement of "legal Mexican immigrants across the border is rarely considered newsworthy. Thus, for the most part, the study concerns itself with the reporting of Mexican "illegal aliens." 1 Abraham Hoffman, Unwanted Mexican Americans in the Great Depression (Tucson, 1974) pp. 8 - 9. 2 Julian Samora, Los Mojados: The Wetback Story, (Notre Dame, 1971) pp. 49 - 50. -1- 2 The question of undocumented Mexican residents is of impor- tance to Mexicans in both countries and to the United States in general. The periodic mass deportations conducted have sometimes, according to The Times, resulted in harassment of legal residents by rmm1gra. t• 1on agent s. 3 Besides the harassment, Chicanos are affected in that those deported are sometimes relatives or friends from Mexico. As for the undocumented resident who is deported, he likely leaves behind a job and, sometimes, a family and is forced to return to a country with limited economic opportunities. As for the United States, many of its economic woes have been said to be caused partially by. ''illegal aliens, 11 or ''wetbacks'' as they are derisively called. Among the charges many times re- peated, often in the media, are that undocumented residents take jobs that should be filled by 11 legal 11 residents, avoid paying income taxes, use welfare funds and food stamps and send their children to public schools. These same charges have been made periodically since at least 1930. It has once again resurfaced as a national issue. In 197 4 then-U. S. Attorney General William Saxbe called the nation 1 s estimated eight million 11 illegal aliens, 11 five million of whom are Mexican, "a national crisis. 11 In 1975 the "Rodino Bill, 11 which would make it unlawful to hire an undocumented resident, is being debated 3 John Mosqueda and Frank Del Omo, "U.S. Launches Drive Against Illegal Aliens, 11 Times , 27 June 1973, part II, p. l. 3 in Congress. It is truly an issue of concern to large segments of the United States population. The purpose of the present study is to offer an answer to the question, What have been the characteristics of The Los Angeles Times and La Opinion in the reporting of Mexican deportations and emigration from the United States? Other questions investigated in the study are: How much did the newspapers rely on government news releases for information on the status of undocumented residents? How often were "unofficiar' sources used? The question of how reporting of this issue in the two news- papers changed over' the years is also considered. In effect, the newspapers were compared and contrasted with themselves .. Furthermore, they were compared and contrasted with each other. What was different and what was the same about the reporting in The Times and La Opinion? The Research Method The two newspapers under study were selected for several reasons. First, they have been published continuously during the decades discussed. Secondly, they are published in Los Angeles, an area which for many years has contained a large number of un- documented residents. Finally, it was desired to use an English- 4 language daily and a Spanish-language daily in order to note any apparent similarities or differences between the two. The years selected for study are the 1930 1 s, the 1950 1 s and the 1970 1 s. These periods were chosen because they were times in which increased deportation activity occurred, 4 and, consequently, attracted much more attention from the press than is usually given. Sources of information were microfilm reproductions of the newspapers, historical works of the periods, contemporary documents and magazine articles. Each period under study required a distinct sampling approach. For the 1930 1 s, historical documents, such as senate records, and a book, Unwanted Mexican in the Great Depression, which deals with the deportation and repatriations of that era, were used as resources. The book was of special value in that it gives dates of repatriations and deportations. Further, the author pre­ sents a somewhat detailed account of reporting of events in La Opinion, and important dates of governmental action regarding re­ patriations and deportations are mentioned. These dates served as guides with which reporting could be checked. This method was necessary because the deportations and repatriations of the 1930 1 s occurred over a period of approximately six years and there is no index for this period. There were often months without mention in 4 Hoffman, p. 3. 5 the newspapers of "illegal aliens, 11 but suddenly there would be a major story on the subject. Dates checked in one paper were al­ ways checked in the other paper. For example, it is stated in Unwanted Mexican Americans in the Great Depression that an immigration raid took place at "la placita" in downtown Los Angeles on February 26, 19315 . The author of the present study then surveyed both newspapers from February 23 to the 28th. In this way, any advance indication of deportation activity as well as reporting of the raid itself could be encountered. In every case, everything except sports and classified advertising was surveyed. The research method used for the 1950 1 s was more complex. In the case of known events which occurred in that decade, such as the border rioting of January, 1954 and "Operation Wetback, 11 re­ search consisted of examining reporting shortly before, during and after the inCidents. For the periodic reporting of "wetbacks 11 The Times 1 morgue proved valuable. The clippings are arranged by subject. Stories and editorials which appeared in The Times usually were followed a day or two later by stories or editorials on the same subject in La Opinion. Thus, The Times 1 morgue served as an ind,ex for La Opinion. This method overlooks the possibility that stories appeared in La Opinion. that did not appear in The Times. But, since La Opinion does not have a filing system and there is no newspaper 5 Ibid. , p. 61. 6 i.P.~~~ for this period, it was the best system that could be used. Two newspaper indexes, The California News Index and The Newspaper Index, served as the exclusive guides to research ft;>r the 1970's. Again, as there is no index for La Opinion, referen­ ge§ to The Times were cross-checked with the Spanish-language· f'}q.iJy. Often when cross-checking La Opinion, it was necessary to check a few days before and after the date on which the study or e~itorial appeared in The Times. For instance, if an article on Me~:i.c::an 11 illegal aliens'' was published in The Times on June 10, 1973, La Opinion issues from June 7 to June 13 would be checked. Sometimes in checking La Opinion, an unexpected story on 11 illegal tJ.li.ens' 1 would be found. That is, a story different than that being checked for would be found. Any story or editorial which had references to Mexican "illegal aliens, 11 deportees or repatriates was recorded. Also recorded was the source of information used in the story, a gen­ eral summary of the story, whether it was a follow-up of an earlier report or an editorial.