“In 1900 there were only 100,000 Mexican immigrants in the United
States… The Annual Report of the Commissioner General of Immigration
of the United States Department of Labor for the year ending June, 1927,
shows that nearly one-half of the immigrants come from countries in the
Western Hemisphere, particularly Canada and Mexico, and that Mexico is
far in the lead… The smuggling of Mexicans across the border, it is
said, is an easy process, as much of the southern boundary is unguarded
and the Rio Grande, which forms the greater part of it, is easily
crossed. The Secretary of Labor says, ‘We estimate that more than one
million Mexicans are illegally in this country.’ Some of those working
with Mexicans say that for every one who enters legally there are three
who enter illegally. From figures available by the United States
Department of Labor, the five Southwestern states visited have a Mexican
population estimated as follows: Texas, 555,000; California, 350,000;
New Mexico, 180,000; Colorado, 70,000; Arizona, 60,000. No longer,
however, can it be said that the Mexicans are confined to the Southwest.
They are found in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, lowa, Nebraska,
Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Pennsylvania and even New York.
They are in Wyoming, Montana and North Dakota. They are found in the
South in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi. There is hardly a
state where they have not penetrated.”