Professor Johnson Speaks to ABC10 About Advising on California Museum Exhibit Committee

Professor Emeritus Kevin R. Johnson served on the advisory board for a new California Museum exhibit, “Help Wanted/Leave Now: ‘Operation Wetback’ and the Revolving Door of Mass Deportation," on display through Jan. 10, 2027. 

Johnson speaks about the exhibit that shares the stories of mass U.S. deportation campaigns targeting Mexican workers, despite the recruitment of Mexican immigrants to fill the labor shortages during and after World War II.

Johnson spoke to ABC10 about how the exhibit parallels today's immigration crackdown led by President Donald Trump. 

“Unfortunately, I fear that we are repeating history and that we will look back on this time period as a very sad episode of U.S. history,” Johnson said.

Kevin R. Johnson is a distinguished professor of law, Mabie-Apallas Professor of Public Interest Law and Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Law. Johnson is the director of the Aoki Center for Critical Race and Nation Studies and also has an appointment as professor of Chicana/o studies at UC Davis. He served as dean of UC Davis Law from 2008 to 2024. Johnson is an internationally recognized scholar in the fields of immigration law and policy, refugee law and civil rights.