A Floundering DACA Program with Echoes of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

February marks the 170th anniversary of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo signed on February 2, 1848.  This was a peace agreement that officially ended the Mexican War (1846-1848).  A pertinent quote from this piece:

    Fast-forward 170 years. The same racial animosity toward Mexican immigrants is demonstrated in a floundering DACA program and preposterous notions of a Trumpian wall, echoing the broken promises of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

This is a sad, tragic story surrounding the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that yes, echoes in alt-right policies and approaches today.


-Angela

A sad history of land grabs, ignoring civil rights

Alfredo Torres Jr., For the Express-News | January 30, 2018

Photo: Allen Holder /TNS

The U.S.-Mexico border, demarcated by the Rio Grande, has proved to be an emotional and actual battlefront for centuries.

“Are you a U.S. citizen?” is a frequent question asked by the U.S. Border Patrol at checkpoints to and from Laredo — the border town where I was born and raised.

Located on the banks of the Rio Grande, Laredo has expanded into an international hub for a globalized U.S. economy dependent on Mexican trade and tourism. Dubbed the “Gateway to Mexico,” downtown Laredo offers a view of a nation a few feet away.

Yet few know that these two countries once had a long, dark and bloody history.

February marks the 170th anniversary of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, a peace agreement officially ending the brutal Mexican War (1846-1848).

One of the most shameful, controversial wars in U.S. history, it was an egregious land grab paraded under the façade of a defensive front toward an “oppressive” Mexican nation. The war was an offensive strategy driven by Anglo-American aggression, disguised and perpetuated under the religious fervor of Manifest Destiny — an arrogant, misconstrued notion that God chose the U.S. to conquer virgin territory west of the Mississippi River.

After the Texas Revolution — and the annexation of the Texas Republic a decade later — U.S.-Mexico disputes over the location of the border erupted into violence. Mexico recognized the Nueces River as the boundary, while the U.S. viewed the Rio Grande as the line of demarcation. A vociferous expansionist, President James Polk ordered Gen. Zachary Taylor to lead troops into the disputed area, along the banks of the Rio Grande, and into Mexican territory, according to historian Richard Griswold de Castillo.

The American invasion of the disputed territory led to encounters between Mexican and U.S. troops, and Polk saw this as an opportunity to declare war on Mexico.

On Feb. 2, 1848, after two years of bloodshed and grief, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed, ceding all territory west of Texas. Within two years, Mexicans became foreigners in their native land, and the hyphenated “Mexican-American” was born.

Mexico sought to secure the fate of Mexican nationals inhabiting the lost northern Mexican territories, which expanded into seven states — Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada and California. An estimated 72 million acres were lost after the Mexican War, according to documentarian John J. Valadez.

The lost territory crippled the Mexican economy but bolstered the U.S. Federal Reserve as vast amounts of gold were found along the California foothills immediately following the war. Later, the Texas oil boom catapulted the U.S. into a hulking superpower.

Articles VIII and IX of the treaty focused on protecting property rights of Mexicans already living in the ceded territories, including their civil liberties, should they choose to stay in the U.S. But the practice of respecting those rights by Anglo-Americans was another matter, impeded through years of warring aggression and stereotypical assumptions. Anglo-Americans viewed Mexicans negatively; they were now a “vanquished enemy.”

Innocent Mexican-American civilians living along these vast stretches of land were victims of fraud, deceit, violent intimidation and a legal system that favored Anglo immigrant squatters encroaching on their property. It was a demoralizing period for Mexican-Americans on the Western frontier.

Fast-forward 170 years. The same racial animosity toward Mexican immigrants is demonstrated in a floundering DACA program and preposterous notions of a Trumpian wall, echoing the broken promises of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

History repeats itself in strange ways.

Alfredo Torres Jr,. is a copy editor for “CTN: A Journal of Pedagogy and Ideas” and an independent historian working at Palo Alto College.