PHOENIX (By Amanda J. Crawford, Arizona Republic) September 30, 2006 — A state representative who has long been a firebrand on the issue of illegal immigration has again fanned the flames of controversy by calling for the reinstatement of an immigrant deportation program from the 1950s.

The comments by Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, this week came as Congress irons out an immigration plan that falls far short of what many hard-liners such as Pearce desire. The congressional plan does not include deportations.

"We know what we need to do," Pearce said in an interview broadcast Wednesday on KJZZ-FM (91.5). "Dwight D. Eisenhower put together a task force called 'Operation Wetback.' He removed, in less than a year, 1.3 million illegal aliens. They must be deported."

 

During the 1954 deportation program, people of Mexican descent were rounded up by police and military officers in communities across the Southwest. Critics say many legal Mexican-Americans were harassed based on their ethnicity, and some American citizens were deported.

Pearce's remarks have stirred heated criticism from some Hispanic leaders, who say Pearce is using the "politics of prejudice" and fear to appeal to an extreme anti-immigrant base of support. Pearce is seeking his fourth term in the Legislature and is the force behind four measures on the state ballot in November aimed at illegal immigration.

"He doesn't care that he offends the Hispanic community," said Rep. Steve Gallardo, D-Phoenix. "I think it is important that people in Arizona look to see who is leading the charge of the immigration debate."

Pearce told The Republic that he does not regret bringing up the Eisenhower program and did so to make a point to those who say mass deportations don't work.

"I don't care what they say," he said. "I want citizens protected. I want the laws to be enforced. Enough is enough."

Carlos Velez-Ibanez, chairman of Arizona State University's department of transborder, Chicana/o and Latina/o studies, said Pearce's rhetoric strikes an emotional chord both in people who vehemently oppose immigration and people like himself, who lived through the poorly named 1954 deportation program.

Velez-Ibanez recalled the fear that swept through his Tucson neighborhood, even among American citizens like his family, when officials raided schools and churches. He said bringing up a program like that distracts from the much-needed, rational debate on immigration.

"It takes the tone of the debate to the level of what I would call the base instincts, to the emotional, thoughtless, uninformed level where people can no longer converse with each other," Velez-Ibanez said. "It builds walls between people so that informed debate cannot take place at all."

Pearce said he believes his critics are attacking him because they don't want people to know the truth about all the problems caused by illegal immigration. He rattles off a list of police officers and others he said were murdered by people in the country illegally. He said he supports "roundups" and mass deportations and wants local law enforcement to start enforcing immigration policy.

"The laws must be enforced and, yes, if you are in this country illegally you should be deported," he said, noting that any program instituted today would be different from one from a half-century ago. "I make no apology for putting America first."