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Calif. Senate to apologize for deportations

The California Senate has voted to formally apologize for the deportation of Mexican-American citizens between 1929 and 1944 and a state Senate committee approved a separate bill to create a fund to pay reparations to surviving deportees who file claims.
/ Source: msnbc.com news services

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.