• Subscribe Now
  • Today In History
  • Wars & Events
    • NEW! The Russia–Ukraine War
    • American Revolution
    • The Civil War
    • World War I
    • World War II
    • Cold War
    • Korean War
    • Vietnam War
    • Global War on Terror
    • Movements
      • Women’s Rights
      • Civil Rights
      • Abolition of Slavery
  • Famous People
    • U.S. Presidents
    • World Leaders
    • Military Leaders
    • Outlaws & Lawmen
    • Activists
    • Artists & Writers
    • Celebrities
    • Scientists
    • Philosophers
  • Eras
    • Modern Era
      • 2000s
      • 1900s
      • 1800s
    • Early Modern
      • 1700s
      • 1600s
      • 1500s
    • The Middle Ages
    • Classical Era
    • Prehistory
  • Topics
    • Black History
    • Slavery
    • Women’s History
    • Prisoners of War
    • Firsthand Accounts
    • Technology & Weaponry
    • Aviation & Spaceflight
    • Naval & Maritime
    • Politics
    • Military History
    • Art & Literature
    • News
    • Entertainment & Culture
    • Historical Figures
    • Photography
    • Wild West
    • Social History
    • Native American History
  • Our Magazines
    • American History
    • America’s Civil War
    • Aviation History
    • Civil War Times
    • Military History
    • Military History Quarterly
    • Vietnam
    • Wild West
    • World War II
  • More
    • Feature Stories
    • Interviews
    • Book & Film Reviews
    • Biographies
    • Quizzes
    • Videos
    • Portfolios
    • Weapons & Gear
    • Battle Maps
    • Ask Prof. History
    • Historical Controversies
  • Newsletters
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
Skip to content
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
HistoryNet

HistoryNet

The most comprehensive and authoritative history site on the Internet.

  • Subscribe Now
  • Today In History
  • Wars & Events
    • NEW! The Russia–Ukraine War
    • American Revolution
    • The Civil War
    • World War I
    • World War II
    • Cold War
    • Korean War
    • Vietnam War
    • Global War on Terror
    • Movements
      • Women’s Rights
      • Civil Rights
      • Abolition of Slavery
  • Famous People
    • U.S. Presidents
    • World Leaders
    • Military Leaders
    • Outlaws & Lawmen
    • Activists
    • Artists & Writers
    • Celebrities
    • Scientists
    • Philosophers
  • Eras
    • Modern Era
      • 2000s
      • 1900s
      • 1800s
    • Early Modern
      • 1700s
      • 1600s
      • 1500s
    • The Middle Ages
    • Classical Era
    • Prehistory
  • Topics
    • Black History
    • Slavery
    • Women’s History
    • Prisoners of War
    • Firsthand Accounts
    • Technology & Weaponry
    • Aviation & Spaceflight
    • Naval & Maritime
    • Politics
    • Military History
    • Art & Literature
    • News
    • Entertainment & Culture
    • Historical Figures
    • Photography
    • Wild West
    • Social History
    • Native American History
  • Our Magazines
    • American History
    • America’s Civil War
    • Aviation History
    • Civil War Times
    • Military History
    • Military History Quarterly
    • Vietnam
    • Wild West
    • World War II
  • More
    • Feature Stories
    • Interviews
    • Book & Film Reviews
    • Biographies
    • Quizzes
    • Videos
    • Portfolios
    • Weapons & Gear
    • Battle Maps
    • Ask Prof. History
    • Historical Controversies
  • Newsletters
Posted inUncategorized

‘They Are Just Deportees’

by Christine M. Kreiser12/6/2019
Share This Article

Biographer Joe Klein called “Plane Wreck at Los Gatos” the last great song Woody Guthrie wrote. Guthrie read a newspaper account of a January 1948 plane crash that killed 32 people, 28 of them Mexican farm workers who were being deported by the U.S. Immigration Service. He was incensed that the immigrants were reduced in news stories to “just deportees”—no names, no families, no sense of why they had come to the United States.

Because of the wartime shortage of agricultural workers, the United States brokered a deal with Mexico in 1942 for contract laborers. Known as the Bracero program, it allowed Mexican workers to legally cross the border for a specified period of employment. Anyone who violated the terms of the contract, or who stayed in the country after the contract was up, was subject to deportation. The federal agreement expired in 1947, but it continued to operate unofficially until new legislation was passed in 1951. The Bracero program ended in 1964, but Guthrie’s stark tale of immigrant laborers—legal or not—still resonates.

Plane Wreck at Los Gatos (Deportees)

By Woody Guthrie

The crops are all in and the peaches are rott’ning,
The oranges piled in their creosote dumps;
They’re flying ’em back to the Mexican border
To pay all their money to wade back again.

(Chorus)

Goodbye to my Juan, goodbye, Rosalita,
Adios mis amigos, Jesus y Maria;
You won’t have your names when you ride the big airplane,
All they will call you will be “deportees.”

My father’s own father, he waded that river,
They took all the money he made in his life;
My brothers and sisters come working the fruit trees,
And they rode the truck till they took down and died.

Some of us are illegal, and some are not wanted,
Our work contract’s out and we have to move on;
Six hundred miles to that Mexican border,
They chase us like outlaws, like rustlers, like thieves.

We died in your hills, we died in your deserts,
We died in your valleys and died on your plains.
We died ’neath your trees and died in your bushes,
Both sides of the river, we died just the same.

The sky plane caught fire over Los Gatos Canyon,
A fireball of lightning, and shook all our hills,
Who are all these friends, all scattered like dry leaves?
The radio says, “They are just deportees.”

Is this the best way we can grow our big orchards?
Is this the best way we can grow our good fruit?
To fall like dry leaves to rot on my topsoil
And be called by no name except “deportees”?

 

Originally published in the October 2006 issue of American History. To subscribe, click here. 

Share This Article
by Christine M. Kreiser

more by Christine M. Kreiser

    Dive deeper

    • American History
    • Immigration
    • Music

    Citation information

    Christine M. Kreiser (3/25/2023) ‘They Are Just Deportees’. HistoryNet Retrieved from https://www.historynet.com/they-are-just-deportees/.
    "‘They Are Just Deportees’."Christine M. Kreiser - 3/25/2023, https://www.historynet.com/they-are-just-deportees/
    Christine M. Kreiser 12/6/2019 ‘They Are Just Deportees’., viewed 3/25/2023,<https://www.historynet.com/they-are-just-deportees/>
    Christine M. Kreiser - ‘They Are Just Deportees’. [Internet]. [Accessed 3/25/2023]. Available from: https://www.historynet.com/they-are-just-deportees/
    Christine M. Kreiser. "‘They Are Just Deportees’." Christine M. Kreiser - Accessed 3/25/2023. https://www.historynet.com/they-are-just-deportees/
    "‘They Are Just Deportees’." Christine M. Kreiser [Online]. Available: https://www.historynet.com/they-are-just-deportees/. [Accessed: 3/25/2023]

    Related stories

    Stories

    Portfolio: Images of War as Landscape

    Whether they produced battlefield images of the dead or daguerreotype portraits of common soldiers, […]

    Stories

    Jerrie Mock: Record-Breaking American Female Pilot

    In 1964 an Ohio woman took up the challenge that had led to Amelia Earhart’s disappearance.

    Photo of South Vietnam: Failed Coup In Saigon Against President Ngo Dinh Diem. Saigon- 17 novembre 1960- Lors du coup d'état manqué contre le président NGO DINH DIEM, des jeunes gens (révolutionnaires) accourent dans une rue, lâchant leur bicyclette pour se protéger de coups de feu, un camion militaire derrièer eux dans une rue, une demeure en arrière-plan.
    Feature

    The First Coup: President Diem’s Own Paratroopers Attempted to Overthrow His Regime

    South Vietnamese paratroopers attacked the presidential palace to remove the corrupt regime.

    Stories

    Fighting Over Lobsters, Pigs, and Kettles: Here Are the Top 10 Bloodless Wars in Human History

    Some human conflicts were settled without getting around to the violence part.

    HistoryNet
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • YouTube

    “History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. History is who we are and why we are the way we are.”

    David McCullough, author of “1776”

    HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the world’s largest publisher of history magazines. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 25,000 articles originally published in our nine magazines.

    Our Magazines

    • American History
    • America’s Civil War
    • Aviation History
    • Civil War Times
    • Military History
    • Military History Quarterly
    • Vietnam
    • Wild West
    • World War II

    About Us

    • What Is HistoryNet.com?
    • Advertise With Us
    • Careers
    • Contact Us
    • Customer Service
    • Meet Our Staff!

    Stay Curious

    Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians.

    sign me up!

    © 2023 HistoryNet.
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Service