President Truman signs the Puerto Rico Commonwealth Bill, enabling Puerto Ricans to establish their own constitution. Puerto Rican Nationalists oppose the new law.
The Bracero Program created by executive order to address WWII labor shortages in low-paying agricultural jobs; this began the influx of legal temporary Mexican workers.
The island's constitution is proclaimed on July 25, the 54th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of the island.
Operation Wetback, a government effort to locate and deport undocumented workers results in deportation of 3.8 million persons of Mexican descent without deportation hearings.
The largest migration of Puerto Ricans to the U.S. mainland occurs; 70,000 people move primarily to New York, New Jersey, and Florida.
The first U.S. Supreme case court argued by Mexican American attorneys results in the recognition of Hispanics as a separate class of people suffering profound discrimination.
First Spanish language television station in the U.S., San Antonio’s KCOR-TV.
Fidel Castro takes power in Cuba sparking large-scale immigration of Cubans to the U.S.
As a result, Puerto Rico absorbs an influx of Cuban exiles.