“On Jan. 28, 1917, a 17-year-old Juarez maid named Carmelita Torres, who crossed the border daily to clean houses in El Paso, refused to take a bath and be disinfected. Press accounts estimated that, by noon, she was joined by "several thousand" demonstrators at the border bridge. The protest became known as "the Bath Riots." Carmelita Torres georgina cecilia pérez

The Bath Riots Indignity Along the Mexican Border georgina cecilia pérez

Mexican Border Crossers were not considered illegal until illegal: (adj) contrary to law “No Human Being is Illegal.” ~Elie Wiesel Passports Literacy Test Tax georgina cecilia pérez

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“The local Anglo press did everything it could to sensationalize the typhus threat from Mexico, although one U.S. Public Health Service official stated that the typhus problem in El Paso was no worse than it was in most major cities in the U.S. In 1917, there were 31 typhus cases in the U.S. and only three typhus-related fatalities in El Paso.” The Bath Riots: Indignity Along the Mexican Border January 28, 2006 For decades, U.S. health authorities used noxious chemicals to delouse Mexicans at border crossings. A new book details violence that followed a 17-year-old Mexican maid's refusal to take a gasoline bath. David Dorado Romo georgina cecilia pérez

1917, Santa Fe Bridge El Paso, Tx At no other US port of entry were human beings subjected to cleansings Mexican Cleansings: DDT, Zyclon B, Kerosene, Gasoline 127,000 people went through the cleansing in 1917 Cleansings Continued through the late 50s georgina cecilia pérez

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D ISINFECTING R OOMS S ANTA F E B RIDGE E L P ASO, T EXAS georgina cecilia pérez