On this day in 1919, during the first Red Scare, the U.S. Department of Justice initiated a series of anti-communist and xenophobic operations known as the "Palmer Raids", arresting 650 people in New York City and deporting 43.

The raids targeted suspected leftists and labor activists, mostly Italian and Eastern European immigrants, especially if they were anarchists or communists, and generally sought to deport them from the United States.

The raids and arrests occurred under the leadership of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, with more than 3,000 arrested. Though 556 people were deported in total, including many prominent leftist leaders like Emma Goldman, Palmer's efforts were largely frustrated by officials at the U.S. Department of Labor, which had authority for deportations and objected to the methods used.

During the first raid on November 7th, agents of the Bureau of Investigation working with local police executed a series of well-publicized and violent raids against the Union of Russian Workers in twelve cities. Newspaper accounts reported some were "badly beaten" during the arrests.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) was founded in direct response to this xenophobic and political persecution.