History of the Chicano Movement and Hispanic Civil Rights Timeline

Territory and Expansion (1800-1848)

• In the early $1800$s, land holdings transitioned between New Spain and the United States.

• The U.S. annexed Texas after its independence from Mexico, leading to a border dispute.

• The Mexican-American War ($1846-1848$) resulted in a U.S. victory and the acquisition of additional Mexican territory.

Migration and Early Politics (1910-1928)

• The Mexican Revolution ($1910-1920$) caused significant displacement, with Mexican immigrant numbers tripling from $200,000$ to $600,000$.

• In $1924$, Congress established the Border Patrol under the Department of Labor’s Immigration Bureau.

• Octaviano Ambrosio Larrazolo became the first Hispanic Senator elected in $1928$, having previously served as the governor of New Mexico.

Labor and Conflict (1942-1943)

• The Bracero Program ($1942-1964$) allowed Mexican laborers to enter the U.S. for short-term agricultural work to address wartime labor shortages.

• The Zoot Suit Riots occurred in Los Angeles in June $1943$, where U.S. military personnel targeted young Mexican Americans for $10$ days due to rising social tensions.

Legal Precedents and Civil Rights (1947-1954)

• Mendez v. Westminster ($1947$) ended school segregation in California and served as a legal precedent for Brown v. Board of Education.

• Hernandez v. State of Texas ($1954$) saw a unanimous Supreme Court ruling that the $14^{th}$ Amendment protects citizens of Mexican ancestry as well as other groups beyond white or negro.

• Operation ‘Wetback’ ($1954$) was a federal program that deported approximately $1$ million Mexican immigrants before funding ran out.

Labor Organizing and Voting Rights (1962-1975)

• Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) in $1962$, later becoming the United Farm Workers Union, to fight for better conditions through strikes and grape boycotts.

• In $1975$, President Gerald Ford extended the Voting Rights Act to include Section $203$, which mandated bilingual ballots.

Modern Reform and Representation (1986-2012)

• The Immigration Reform & Control Act of $1986$ granted legal status to $2.7$ million immigrants while increasing border security and prohibiting the hiring of unauthorized workers.

• Sonia Sotomayor was appointed as the first Hispanic person and $3^{rd}$ woman on the Supreme Court in $2009$.

• The DACA Program (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) was enacted in $2012$, protecting approximately $700,000$ DREAMers from deportation.