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Dr. J. A. Hockaday Collection - Operation Wetback (1954)

Donald L. Hockaday

Silent | 1954 | Color | English

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In this home movie from 1954, Donald L. Hockaday and his father, Dr. James A. Hockaday, watch as Border Patrol officials load apprehended undocumented immigrants into a ship—named the Emancipación—for deportation from Port Isabel, Texas to Veracruz, Mexico. The immigrants were deported as part of 'Operation Wetback,' a quasi-military repatriation project headed by the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service that sought to remove undocumented Mexican immigrants from the Southwest. After the ship departs, the footage captures the Hockaday family enjoying an afternoon at the beach.

Please note: 'Wetback' is a derogatory term applied to Mexican laborers who crossed the Rio Grande. The Texas Archive of the Moving Image does not condone the use of this term, but presents this film with its accurate historical context, because to do otherwise would be the same as to claim this discriminatory behavior never existed.

James A. Hockaday was born on January 23, 1892 in Plattsburg, Missouri. After serving in the medical corps during World War I, he moved his family to Port Isabel, Texas, where he developed a prominent career as a physician and surgeon. In 1946, Hockaday was elected mayor of Port Isabel. While his first term ended in 1947, he was elected mayor a second time in 1956, holding the position for a decade. Interested in the life and history of the area in which he lived, Hockaday was a member of the Texas State Historical Association, the Texas Historical Foundation, and the Cameron County Historical Survey committee. He also served as a president and lifetime board member of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Historical Society. Hockaday died on May 10, 1966 in Brownsville. His files of historical data are included in a memorial library in Port Isabel.

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