California's 'Bum Blockade'

What It Covers

In 1936, LAPD Chief James Davis deployed officers to California's borders to block Dust Bowl migrants from entering Los Angeles, creating an unconstitutional blockade that lasted two months before collapsing.

Key Questions Answered

• •Selective enforcement: LAPD officers stopped rundown vehicles and single men while waving through expensive cars, using subjective judgments about poverty rather than objective criteria to determine who could enter California at border checkpoints.
• •Economic motivation shift: California's anti-migrant stance reversed completely by 1940 when World War II created labor shortages, demonstrating how attitudes toward migrants depend entirely on economic demand rather than consistent principles about belonging or citizenship.
• •Constitutional precedent: The 1941 Edwards v. California Supreme Court case unanimously struck down anti-indigent laws, establishing that citizenship means the right to move freely between states regardless of economic status, eliminating legal barriers to interstate migration.
• •Media manipulation tactics: Davis fabricated crime stories on radio shows like Calling All Cars, creating a fictional criminal named Eddie Griffith to justify the blockade, while the LA Times provided favorable coverage in exchange for political favors.