Immigration Policy in the Depression

"Los Angeles Police Chief Sends Patrolmen to Guard Border"

Like the headline?

Care to guess when it was printed?

February 15, 1936.

Here's the kicker question: Which border was being guarded?

It wasn't the southern border with Mexico. But you probably knew that, just because I asked. No, it was California's border with other states that was guarded, to keep out American citizens.

During the Depression, the Dust Bowl drove people from the Midwest. A brief explanation of the Dust Bowl: Drought conditions and overuse of soil in the Midwest had left the land vulnerable. In 1933, a monstrous dust storm hit, and more storms struck sporadically for a couple more years. The storms stripped topsoil from farmland and deposited the dirt hundreds of miles to the east. Skies were blackened, farms were ruined, and people had no way to make a living.

Migrant laborers and sharecroppers knew how to plant and harvest, but nothing remained for them to work on. They came west in large numbers, hoping to work in the fields of California's San Joaquin Valley. Most of them were from Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, and Missouri. Wherever they came from, they were called Okies.

John Steinbeck's novel, The Grapes of Wrath, tells about these migrant workers. Tom Joad, the main character, learns "Well, Okie use'ta mean you was from Oklahoma. Now it means you're a dirty son of a bitch. Okie means you're scum."

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Migrant workers from Oklahoma had been called Okies since the early 1900s, but during the Depression the word was used like a curse. The Okies were homeless and hungry, and there were too many of them. Californians were afraid.

By 1933, 29% of California's workers were out of a job. That's 3 out of 10 workers, everywhere! Suddenly, thousands and thousands of people were moving to California from other states, willing to work for practically nothing. Every Californian who found himself out of a job blamed the newcomers for his woes.

The state legislature tried to pass a bill that would keep out "all paupers" and those likely to need welfare. It failed, barely. So in February, 1936, Los Angeles Police Chief James Davis sent 125 officers to the borders-including the border with Oregon, 800 miles away!

Chief Davis' "bum brigade" made national headlines. The ACLU filed a lawsuit, and after six weeks the cops were called home. Things settled down for a few years, but in 1938 . . .

A group called the California Citizen Association announced its plan to solve the states impending "chaos and financial ruin" by demanding that the federal government step in and get the migrants back to their home states. 100,000 people signed the Association's petition, and the war against the immigrants re-engaged.

People stopped talking of the poor, pauperized Okies, and began referring to them as freeloaders, chiselers, and crooks. Counties set up blockades. One State Senator said, "If they come to this state, let them starve..."

A state law made it a misdemeanor to bring an indigent person into the state. Based on that law, authorities began arresting people and jailing them. One case went to the Supreme Court in 1941 and the law was struck down, but by then the crisis was over.

In the late 1930s, signs on Route 66 outside of Tulsa, Oklahoma proclaimed:

NO JOBS in California

IF YOU are looking for work-KEEP OUT

6 Men for Every Job

No State Relief Available for Non-Residents

The Okies didn't come because they were invited, that's for sure. By the time that sign appeared, 15 % of the state's population had left for California, and the number of people in California's San Joaquin Valley had risen by 50%.

What happened, eventually?

The economy slowly improved, but it was World War II that ended the migrant crisis. California suddenly needed more laborers than ever before-not only to man the fields, but to train for work in new factories that served the defense industry. The turnaround was complete and immigrants were suddenly welcomed.