The Bisbee Deportation was a significant episode in the labor struggles of early 20th century America, particularly within the mining industry. In the summer of 1917, tensions were running high as copper miners, organized under the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), were demanding better wages and improved working conditions. Strikes were commonplace, as workers protested against the exploitative practices of the mining companies during World War I, where copper was in high demand for war materials.

On July 12, a group of armed vigilantes, supported by local authorities and employers, initiated a campaign to eliminate the strikers. They sought to re-establish control over the workforce and maintain production levels for the war effort. In a carefully planned operation, the vigilantes rounded up around 1,300 miners and their allies, many of whom were innocent bystanders caught in the upheaval. They were forcibly detained, transported in crowded, unmarked train cars without food or water, and deported to the New Mexico desert, where they were left stranded.

The actions taken by the vigilantes were indicative of the broader social and political climate of the time, where anti-union sentiment was pervasive among business interests and law enforcement. The Bisbee Deportation exemplified the extremes to which authorities would go to suppress labor movements, reflecting a period of intense conflict between workers’ rights and corporate power. Over the years, it would serve as a cautionary tale about the vulnerabilities of labor movements and the lengths to which some would go to undermine them.