A multi-chapter book that examines the FBI files on two well known persons of Mexican origin, Luisa Moreno and Ernesto Galarza; four Chicanos, Ambassador Raymond Telles and his wife Delfina Navarro, Francisco "Pancho" Medrano, Freddy Fender; two organizations, the Texas Farm Workers Union and teh American G.I. Forum; and, one event, the Zoot Suit police riots in Los Angeles, California during the 1940s.

FBI Files on Mexicans and Chicanos, 1940-1980 is a multi-chapter book that examines the FBI files on multiple, well known Mexican and Chicanos, as well as the Texas Farm Workers Union and the American G.I. Forum and, the Zoot Suit police riots in Los Angeles, California during the 1940s.

Utilizing FBI surveillance documents this multi-chapter book reveals hidden histories of five persons, two organizations, and one event all related to Mexicans and their Chicanos in the U.S.

A multi-chapter book, first of its kind, that identifies, describes, and analyzes FBI documents revealing the hidden history of surveillance of Mexicans and Chicanos in the United States of America.

Profiles people who have emerged from the barrios between 1930 and 1960 to become leaders of the Mexican-American community

Reies López Tijerina, one of the Four Horsemen of the Chicano Movement, led the land grant struggle by Hispanos in the 1960s to recover the lands granted to their ancestors by Spain and Mexico and then guaranteed by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. In his struggle, Tijerina became the target of local and state law enforcement officials in New Mexico and the FBI nationwide. José Angel Gutiérrez meticulously examines thousands of pages of FBI documents, interview transcripts, newspaper reports, and other written accounts on Tijerina and the Alianza Federal de Pueblos Libres, the organization of land grant claimants led by Tijerina in New Mexico. The primary source materials that document the U.S. government’s attempts to destroy Tijerina, his family, and his followers complement the secondary literature on Tijerina and his efforts as the premier leader of the land grant recovery movement. Threaded through the volume are glimpses into the special personal relationship between Tijerina and the author.

This book is the first of its kind to bring transparency to the FBI’s attempts to destroy the incipient Chicano Movement of the 1960s. While the activities of the deep state are current research topics, this has not always been the case. The role of the U.S. government in suppressing marginalized racial and ethnic minorities began to be documented with the advent of the Freedom of Information Act and most recently by disclosures of whistle blowers. This book utilizes declassified files from the FBI to investigate the agency’s role in thwarting Cesar E. Chavez’s efforts to build a labor union for farm workers and documents the roles of the FBI, California state police, and local police in assisting those who opposed Chavez. Ultimately, The Eagle Has Eyes is a must-read for academics and activists alike.