SACRAMENTO, Calif. 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 (m) 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. or redistributed.
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