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We Are Not Tijuana: The Valley Protests Washington's Crackdown On Gambling, Robin Robinson

History Faculty Publications and Presentations

During Prohibition, the US Treasury Department limited the number of hours that international bridges spanning the Rio Grande River were open in an attempt to control such illegal activities as gambling. Brownsville, Texas, typically received an exemption for the bridge between Brownsville and Matamoros, Mexico, by arguing that Matamoros lacked the vice problems that had prompted the border restrictions elsewhere. The article discusses actions taken when, in August 1931, Brownsville was not exempted.