South Carolina Senator Coleman Livingston-Blaze was a virulent, old-timey southern racist. He crafted a bill that made illegally entering the United States a punishable crime. Tens of thousands of Mexicans were prosecuted and imprisoned for unlawfully entering the U.S. Kelly Lydel Hernandez is a professor of history, African-American studies, and urban planning at UCLA. She's also the author most recently of City of Inmates' Conquest, Rebellion in Los Angeles.