Final answer:
The U.S. government deported people of Mexican ancestry during the Great Depression primarily due to economic competition and racial discrimination, with the intent to free up jobs for Anglo-Americans. This was later contrasted by the recruitment of Mexican laborers through the Bracero Program during labor shortages in World War II.
Step-by-step explanation:
The reason that the U.S. government began deporting people of Mexican ancestry during the Great Depression was primarily due to economic competition. Amid high unemployment rates, there was significant pressure to prioritize jobs for Anglo-Americans, leading to widespread deportations of Mexican Americans and Mexican immigrants to open up job opportunities. This phase of deportations was influenced by racial discrimination and biased labor practices that sought to dismiss Mexican laborers in favor of white workers.
During the 1950s, the Monroe Doctrine and the McCarran-Nixon Internal Security Act were enforced to justify the mass deportations. Programs like Operation Wetback depicted the racial undertones influencing these deportations, highlighting nativism in American immigration policy. Conversely, during World War II, the Bracero Program invited Mexican immigrants to the U.S. to address labor shortages, revealing inconsistent immigration policies influenced by labor demands.