Think Trump's immigration policy is bad?
Of course it's bad! But it's not anything new, either. Even the scale of what he proposes has been done before in the U.S. For example:
Today in Labor History February 2, 1931: U.S. citizens of Mexican heritage were “repatriated” to Mexico. During the decade’s first four years, the federal government deported anywhere from several hundred thousand to 1.8 million Mexicans. 40-60% of those deported were U.S. citizens and overwhelmingly children. President Hoover blamed Mexicans for the Great Depression and deported them in huge numbers to win support from his right-wing base.
Sound familiar?
The U.S. (and many other countries) has a long, sordid history of nativism, racism and scapegoating of immigrants to achieve political ends.
Go back to the mid-1800s and you'll see numerous examples of politicians and the press provoking nativist riots against "Papists" (Irish Catholics who had fled the famine of the 1840s). Some of those Irish immigrants were drafted by the U.S. to fight its war of expansion against Mexico and switched sides, becoming the Saint Patrick's Brigade (los San Patricios).
New York's Bowery Boys, and Baltimore's Plug Uglies, were 2 examples of nativist gangs of the era. They participated in the the Know-Nothing Riot in Washington, D.C. in 1857, where the National Guard shot and killed ten citizens. They also participated in the 1863 New York City draft riots in which up to 120 people died.
Los Pulpos, the gang of four brothers who spread terror in Peru and Chile
L.A. promised $30 million to people wronged by gang curfews. Why has only half been spent?