Millions of Mexican Americans were deported in the 1930s. Are we about to repeat this ‘ethnic cleansing’?

Nearly 2 million Mexican Americans, more than half US citizens, were deported without due process during the Great Depression, reminiscent of what is unfolding today

One sunny afternoon in February, a large group of plainclothes federal agents descended on Los Angeles's La Placita Park, a sanctuary and bustling cultural hub for the city's growing Mexican diaspora. Wielding guns and batons, they barricaded the park and demanded proof of citizenship or legal residency from the congregants trapped within.

Those who failed to produce papers were arrested. More than 400 people were detained and forced on a train back to Mexico, a place many had never been.