"Only the best class of immigration": public health policy toward Mexicans and Filipinos in Los Angeles, 1910-1940.

Public health officials contributed to the early 20th-century campaign against Mexicans and Filipinos in Los Angeles. In 1914, the newly established city and county health departments confronted the overwhelming task of building a public health infrastructure for a rapidly growing population spread over a large area. However, for several years public health reports focused almost exclusively on the various infectious diseases associated with Mexican immigrants. Although the segregation of Mexicans was illegal in California until 1935, county officials established separate clinics for Whites and Mexicans during the 1920s. With assistance from state officials, local health authorities participated actively in efforts to restrict Mexican immigration throughout the 1920s and to expel both Mexicans and Filipinos during the 1930s.