1954 Operation Wetback at Port Isabel

by Leo Rodriguez 

1954 photo of the jetties at South Padre Island

You might find that huge ship full of people interesting, which was a common sight during the 1954-1955 time period. These are illegal immigrants being returned to Mexico, as part of "Operation Wetback".

Operation Wetback was an immigration law enforcement initiative created by the INS, in cooperation with the Mexican government. The program was implemented in May 1954, Operation Wetback was primarily a response to pressure from a broad coalition of farmers and business interests concerned with the effects of Mexican immigrants living in the United States without legal permission. After implementation, Operation Wetback gave rise to arrests and deportations by the U.S. Border Patrol that were civil rights violations, which resulted in several hundred United States citizens being illegally deported without being given a chance to prove their citizenship.

Usually a smaller boat would follow the ship to pick up immigrants whom opted to jump ship before it cleared the channel.

The name of this ship was the SS Emancipation, which carried an average of 800 undocumented onboard, from Port Isabel to Veracruz, Mexico. The city of Port Isabel immensely benefited revenue wise, aside from docking charges, the Border Patrol compensated the city an embarkation charge of 35 cents for each passenger. In a 2 month period in the Fall of 1954, 4,000 passengers had been deported to Veracruz via Port Isabel.

To watch preserved video of Operation Wetback at Port Isabel click on LINK for Texas Archive of the Moving Image 

from Valley Beautiful publication in 1947 sent by anonymous friend.  

1954 0715