“Help Wanted / Leave Now: “Operation Wetback” & The Revolving Door of Mass Deportation” is a new exhibit at the California Museum that explores how generations of Mexican farmworkers, miners, and others were recruited to sustain U.S. industry, only to face mass expulsion during times of economic anxiety and political scapegoating.
UNT Special Collections contributed a significant amount of archival film from the WBAP/KXAS Television News Archive for display in this exhibit. This footage shows first- hand how the largest mass deportation in American history was carried out in Texas’s Rio Grande Valley. Footage shows families first entering a detention camp in McAllen where they would stay until being transported to Mexico. Similar deportation operations simultaneously took place in Arizona and California.
Archival footage of deportations, along with archival photos and artifacts, helps tell the difficult story of deportation while honoring the individuals whose labor has underpinned American economic growth.
The exhibit will open on August 12 with a reception and remarks by Dolores Huerta. The California Museum will host the exhibit for public display from August 13-Janusry 10, 2027, and then the exhibit will travel to other locations throughout the US.
