| When I was born in January of 1932, another | | | | We heard that he was counting the tanks that |
| great event was taking place. The United | | | | were rolling along the rail bed. We heard he |
| States Government was invading the homes of | | | | had a shortwave radio that he used to report |
| Mexican Americans, scaring the hell out of | | | | the daily count of trucks, guns, tanks, and |
| their kids, rounding the families up like the | | | | what have you. When he disappeared we knew |
| Germans did the Jews, Poles, and others | | | | "for sure" that he was a spy. |
| during World War II, and shipping them all | | | | |
| back to Mexico without even their personal | | | | I don't know what happened to him. He may |
| possessions. | | | | have ended up in a camp. |
| | | | |
| All that has to be true because I read it in | | | | I knew nothing about the Mexican deportation |
| USA Today and they knows such things. | | | | until I read it in USA Today. It was not in |
| | | | my history book. |
| The purpose of the roundup, which I was too | | | | |
| young to prevent, nor did I know it was | | | | Of course the reason this is being |
| occurring-it wasn't my fault-was that the | | | | resurrected is that the Mexicans have not |
| Mexicans were working for a living. That | | | | forgotten it. They don't like the new |
| indicated that they had jobs that were needed | | | | proposed legislation that could send them |
| by Americans. | | | | packing again. I don't blame them. They want |
| | | | the government to apologize for the last |
| Do I believe that? | | | | deportations hoping that will stop them from |
| | | | doing it again. |
| Not in out neighborhood. | | | | |
| | | | I think that we should call up the Marine |
| Few people had jobs, especially the Mexicans. | | | | reserves, arm them with brooms, and sweep |
| | | | into Mexico. That will make the Mexicans hate |
| During World War II, the West Coast was | | | | us and no Mexican will want to immigrate into |
| evacuated of Japanese and they were placed in | | | | our country. We would strategically let them |
| camps where I used to live in Arizona and | | | | drive us out and allow them to set up a big |
| here where I live now in Idaho. I knew this | | | | defense line along their northern border that |
| was going on because I was older. Being a | | | | no one can penetrate again. Problem solved! |
| child, I kept my eyes on my close Japanese | | | | (We mustn't get carried away with this and |
| friends, hoping that they would not be put | | | | destroy their infrastructure as we did in |
| into camps. Fortunately, they were not. | | | | Iraq. We must run ahead of them as they swing |
| | | | their machetes at our brooms.) |
| However, there was an old Japanese man that | | | | |
| walked along the railroad tracks gathering | | | | Hey! I'm just kidding! |
| coal into a gunny sack. We heard all kinds of | | | | |
| rumors about that poor old fellow who was | | | | We need the Mexicans up here in Idaho to run |
| just trying to keep warm. | | | | our farms and factories. |
| | | | |