Brouhaha over immigration is nothing new

During the war, Mexicans moved north to fill a labor shortage as men enlisted. When the soldiers returned home, particularly in the Southwest, they found new competition for jobs. Mexicans, legal and illegal, were blamed for labor situations such as low wages.

"The attention turns because the quota act was very successful in shutting down immigration from Europe and elsewhere," Smith said.

The thinking was if you limit immigration, that will raise wages, Smith said, but with Mexicans filling the labor gap, that didn't always happen.

After World War II, a series of events — the Cold War, the Vietnam War, struggles in Central America and Cuba and economic troubles in Mexico — led to a steady increase in the number of legal and illegal immigrants coming to the United States.

"The booming U.S. economy," according to Department of Homeland Security historic references, "served as a magnet for immigrants, both legal and illegal."

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