I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1412 

To establish a commission to study the removal of Mexican-Americans to 

Mexico during 1929–1941, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 7, 2017 

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To establish a commission to study the removal of MexicanAmericans to Mexico during 1929–1941, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Commission on the 

5 Removal of Mexican-Americans to Mexico Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) From 1929 through 1941, Federal, State, 

9 and local Government authorities and certain private 

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1 took an aggressive program to forcibly remove indi2 viduals of Mexican ancestry from the United States. 

3 (2) As many as 1,200,000 individuals of Mexi4 can ancestry who were United States citizens were 

5 forcibly removed to Mexico. 

6 (3) These men, women, and children were re7 moved outside the United States in response to pub8 lic pressure to curtail the employment of Mexican9 Americans, most of whom were United States citi10 zens or residing legally in the United States, during 

11 the Depression. 

12 (4) Massive raids were conducted on Mexican13 American communities, and many of the people who 

14 were removed were never able to return to the 

15 United States, their country of birth. 

16 (5) These raids targeted individuals of Mexican 

17 ancestry, even when such individuals were United 

18 States citizens or permanent legal residents. 

19 (6) These raids also separated such United 

20 States citizens and permanent legal residents from 

21 their families and deprived them of their livelihoods 

22 and constitutional rights. 

23 (7) No official inquiry into this matter has been 

24 made. 


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1 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to estab2 lish a fact finding commission to determine whether 

3 United States citizens and permanent legal residents were 

4 forcibly removed to Mexico from 1929 to 1941 in violation 

5 of law as a result of past directives of Federal, State and 

6 local governments and the impact of such removal on 

7 those individuals, their families, and the Mexican-Amer8 ican community in the United States, and to recommend 

9 appropriate remedies. 

10 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION. 

11 There is established a commission to be known as the 

12 ‘‘Commission on the Removal of Mexican-Americans to 

13 Mexico’’. 

14 SEC. 4. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION. 

15 The Commission shall— 

16 (1) review the facts and circumstances sur17 rounding the removal of certain United States citi18 zens and permanent legal residents to Mexico from 

19 1929 to 1941, and the impact of such actions on 

20 these individuals, their families, and the Mexican21 American community in the United States; 

22 (2) review past directives of Federal, State, and 

23 local governments that required the removal of these 

24 individuals to Mexico and any other information re25 lated to these directives; and 


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1 (3) submit to Congress a written report of its 

2 findings and recommendations. 

3 SEC. 5. MEMBERSHIP. 

4 (a) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Commission 

5 shall be composed of seven members, who shall be ap6 pointed within 90 days after the date of the enactment 

7 of this Act as follows: 

8 (1) Three members appointed by the President. 

9 (2) Two members appointed by the Speaker of 

10 the House of Representatives, in consultation with 

11 the minority leader of the House of Representatives. 

12 (3) Two members appointed by the President 

13 pro tempore of the Senate, in consultation with the 

14 minority leader of the Senate. 

15 (b) QUALIFICATIONS.—Members appointed under 

16 subsection (a) shall possess knowledge or expertise related 

17 to human rights, civil rights, immigration, labor, business, 

18 or other pertinent qualifications. 

19 (c) TERM OF OFFICE.—Each member shall be ap20 pointed for the life of the Commission. 

21 (d) QUORUM.—Four members of the Commission 

22 shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser number may hold 

23 hearings. 

24 (e) INITIAL MEETING.—The initial meeting of the 

25 Commission shall be called by the President within one 


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1 hundred and twenty days after the date of the enactment 

2 of this Act, or within thirty days after the date on which 

3 legislation is enacted making appropriations to carry out 

4 this Act, whichever is later. 

5 (f) CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIRPERSON.—The 

6 Commission shall elect a chairperson and vice chairperson 

7 from among its members. The term of office of each shall 

8 be for the life of the Commission. 

9 (g) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Commission shall 

10 not affect its powers and shall be filled in the same man11 ner in which the original appointment was made. 

12 SEC. 6. POWERS. 

13 (a) HEARINGS.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission or on the 

15 authorization of the Commission, any subcommittee 

16 or member thereof, may for the purpose of carrying 

17 out this Act, hold hearings, sit and act at times and 

18 places, take testimony, and receive evidence as the 

19 Commission or any subcommittee or member con20 siders appropriate. 

21 (2) LOCATION.—The Commission may hold 

22 public hearings in any city of the United States that 

23 it finds appropriate. 

24 (b) SUBPOENA POWER.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may issue 

2 subpoenas requiring the attendance and testimony of 

3 witnesses and the production of any evidence relat4 ing to any matter under investigation by the Com5 mission which the Commission is empowered to in6 vestigate by this Act. 

7 (2) FAILURE TO OBEY A SUBPOENA.—If a per8 son refuses to obey a subpoena issued under para9 graph (1), the Commission may apply to a United 

10 States district court for an order requiring that per11 son to appear before the Commission to give testi12 mony, produce evidence, or both, relating to the 

13 matter under investigation. The application may be 

14 made within the judicial district where the hearing 

15 is conducted or where such person is found, resides, 

16 or transacts business. Any failure to obey the order 

17 of the court may be punished by the court as civil 

18 contempt. 

19 (3) SERVICE OF SUBPOENA.—A subpoena of 

20 the Commission shall be served in the manner pro21 vided for subpoenas issued by a United States dis22 trict court under the Federal Rules of Civil Proce23 dure for the United States district courts. 

24 (4) SERVICE OF PROCESS.—All process of any 

25 court to which application is made under paragraph 


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1 (2) may be served in the judicial district in which 

2 the person required to be served resides or may be 

3 found. 

4 (c) OBTAINING OFFICIAL DATA.—The Commission 

5 may secure directly from any department or agency of the 

6 United States, or from any State or local government, in7 formation necessary to enable it to carry out this Act. 

8 Upon request of any member, the head of such department 

9 or agency shall furnish such information to the Commis10 sion. 

11 (d) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—To the extent or in the 

12 amounts provided in advance in appropriation Acts, the 

13 Commission may contract with and compensate govern14 ment and private agencies or persons for any services, sup15 plies, or other activities necessary to enable the Commis16 sion to carry out its duties under this Act. 

17 SEC. 7. STAFF. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may appoint and 

19 fix the pay of such additional staff as it considers appro20 priate. 

21 (b) APPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN CIVIL SERVICE

22 LAWS.—Any staff of the Commission may be appointed 

23 without regard to the provisions of title 5, United States 

24 Code, governing appointments in the competitive service, 

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1 ter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of such title relat2 ing to classification and General Schedule pay rates. 

3 (c) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—The Commission 

4 may procure temporary and intermittent services under 

5 section 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code. 

6 (d) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES.—Upon re7 quest of the Commission, the Administrator of General 

8 Services shall provide to the Commission, on a reimburs9 able basis, the administrative support services necessary 

10 for the Commission to carry out its duties under this Act. 

11 SEC. 8. REPORT. 

12 The Commission shall submit to Congress a written 

13 report not later than the date which is one year after the 

14 date of the initial meeting called pursuant to section 5(d) 

15 of this Act. The report shall contain a detailed statement 

16 of the findings and conclusions of the Commission, to17 gether with its recommendations for legislative actions 

18 that the Commission considers appropriate. 

19 SEC. 9. TERMINATION. 

20 The Commission shall terminate 30 days after sub21 mitting the report under section 8. 

22 SEC. 10. DEFINITIONS. 

23 In this Act: 


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1 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

2 means the Commission on the Removal of Mexican3 Americans to Mexico established under section 3. 

4 (2) MEMBER.—The term ‘‘member’’ means a 

5 member of the Commission. 

6 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any 

7 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 

8 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any other 

9 commonwealth, possession, or territory of the United 

10 States. 

Æ 


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