The California Senate has voted to formally apologize for the deportation of Mexican-American citizens between 1929 and 1944. The expulsions were part of a program designed to create jobs for citizens during the Depression.
About two million Hispanics, including 400-thousand Californians, were sent to Mexico during that period. The program was devised by the Hoover administration to get rid of illegal immigrants and open up jobs. But a state senator says most of the people deported were American citizens or legal immigrants.
The Senate passed the measure 27-to-five, sending it to the Assembly.
Meanwhile, a state Senate committee approved a separate bill to create a fund to pay reparations to surviving deportees who file claims. Both measures are sponsored by state Senator Joe Dunn.
Separate legislation would be needed to put money in the account.
