Southwest Land Reparations

"The issue in Tierra Amarilla and across New Mexico, and the subject of the GAO's study, goes back to the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended the Mexican-American War. Almost half of Mexico's territory was ceded to the US. The treaty guaranteed the property rights of the Mexican settlers who remained on the land in a hundred towns and villages, each with tracts of land granted to them first by Spain and then by Mexico. But that's not how things stayed. Through a combination of taxation rules, legal maneuvering, and even a US Supreme Court decision, the settlers eventually lost much of the land. A good portion ended up in federal hands."

Thanks to Tom Collins