Trump's immigration plan is a dark flashback to history

+ worried about microplastics? enter: nanoplastics ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Top headlines

Lead story

In September 2023, Donald Trump made a sweeping promise that shocked many − even though, as recent memory serves, he made a nearly identical pledge the last time he ran for president.

“Following the Eisenhower model, we will carry out the largest domestic deportation operation in American history,” Trump said.

Forcibly rounding up and deporting the country’s approximately 11 million undocumented immigrants, including many who have lived here for decades and have children who are U.S. citizens, might sound dystopian. But a version of this plan already happened in the 1950s, when the Eisenhower administration launched the short-lived “Operation Wetback,” which forcibly deported about 100,000 people to Mexico.

In today’s lead story, Katrina Burgess, a scholar of political economy, migration and diaspora at Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, brings readers back to a dark few months in American history, from May 1954 through January 1955. She explains why Trump’s potential plan is likely to be even less successful than Operation Wetback once was.

“If he were to win the presidency again, Trump would have the legal authority to deport undocumented immigrants, but the logistical, political and legal obstacles to doing so quickly and massively are even greater today than they were in the 1950s,” Burgess writes.

One last thing: If you value The Conversation’s international coverage, we think you’ll also like the DailyChatter. This daily newsletter covers more than 150 countries by highlighting trusted sources like The Conversation from around the world. Subscribe today and get the world in your inbox tomorrow.

Amy Lieberman

Politics + Society Editor

A U.S. Border Patrol officer shows how he found an undocumented Mexican immigrant under the hood of a car along the U.S.-Mexican border in March 1954. Associated Press

Trump promises to deport all undocumented immigrants, resurrecting a 1950s strategy − but it didn’t work then and is less likely to do so now

Katrina Burgess, Tufts University

Donald Trump says he will authorize a roundup of all 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country. A 1950s program with similar goals, called Operation Wetback, offers lessons.

Politics + Society
Media coverage of campus protests tends to focus on the spectacle, rather than the substance Danielle K. Brown, Michigan State University Analysis shows news stories on pro-Palestinian demonstrations at US universities spiked when they involved clashes.

Economy + Business

Neediest areas are being shortchanged on government funds − even with programs designed to benefit poor communities

Eric Stokan, University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Aaron Deslatte, Indiana University; Michael Overton, University of Idaho

Tax dollars don’t always go to the communities that need them most.
Paying caregivers more could boost Nebraska’s economy − new research

Susan Rebecca Reay, University of Nebraska Omaha; Ernie Goss, Creighton University

Paying the caregivers of people with disabilities more would improve care while increasing economic growth, a research team found.

Ethics + Religion
The number of religious ‘nones’ has soared, but not the number of atheists – and as social scientists, we wanted to know why Christopher P. Scheitle, West Virginia University; Katie Corcoran, West Virginia University Social factors, from wealth to politics, may shape whether people who do not believe in God identify as an atheist.

Science + Technology
How does the brain think? Jennifer Robinson, Auburn University Eating right, exercising, playing sports, reading and journaling are just a few of the ways you can keep your brain in top shape.

Arts + Culture

I analyzed 3,356 signs to see how language use is changing in three Latino neighborhoods in Philly

Daniel Guarin, Temple University

Spanish signs are becoming more popular in the Italian Market in South Philadelphia, but decreasing along the Golden Block in North Philadelphia.
‘Hidden mother’ photos don’t erase moms − rather, they reveal the labor and love that support the child

Andrea Kaston Tange, Macalester College

Mothers are smudged out and poorly cloaked beneath drapes in these 19th century portraits. But these photos are not so much relics of shoddy photography than an ode to childhood.

Environment + Energy

Houston area’s flood problems offer lessons for cities trying to adapt to a changing climate

Richard B. (Ricky) Rood, University of Michigan

Too much pavement and old drainage systems are just two of the problems communities face.
What are nanoplastics? An engineer explains concerns about particles too small to see

Mohan Qin, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Nanoplastics are the smallest microplastics, far narrower than a human hair. Very little is known about their composition, structure or how they break down in the environment.

Education
Unlicensed teachers now dominate new teacher hires in rural Texas schools James P. Van Overschelde, Texas State University; Minda Lopez, Texas State University When students get unqualified teachers, it’s like missing one-third of the school year – and that’s what’s been happening with rural students in Texas.

Trending on site
As humans, we all want self-respect – and keeping that in mind might be the missing ingredient when you try to change someone’s mind Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at 200: Revolutionary work of art has spawned two centuries of joy, goodwill and propaganda Cassava: The perilous past and promising future of a toxic but nourishing crop