Senator proposes study on forced repatriation of Mexican Americans

The Jimenez family was among an estimated 2 million Mexican-Americans,  mostly U.S. citizens or legal residents, who were forcibly deported -- or  forcefully persuaded -- to leave the country during the 1930s, in an episode  that has long been neglected in history textbooks. About a quarter of them  came from California, the largest state to participate in the effort. Now a bill that is expected to be approved by the state Legislature would  start to make amends for that situation. The bill, by Sen. Joe Dunn, D-Garden Grove, would create a commission to  study the forced repatriation in California from 1929 to 1944 and recommend  ways for the state to address the injustice, including possibly an apology  and reparations program, and more education in public schools. Another Dunn measure would extend the statute of limitations for two  years for surviving victims of the repatriation to sue any California  governmental or private organization that may have been involved in the  repatriation. [more ]