1917 Bath riots

El Paso disinfection station and Mexicans waiting to be de-loused at the international bridge at the US immigration station

Side view of the El Paso disinfecting plant and yard of the US immigration station

Clothing being readied for steam de-lousing at the El Paso disinfection plant of the US immigration station

Women's baths at the El Paso disinfecting plant of the US immigration station

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The 1917 Bath Riots occurred in January 1917 at the Santa Fe Street Bridge between El Paso, Texas, United States, and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico. The riots are known to have been started by Carmelita Torres^[1] and lasted from January 28 to January 30 and were sparked by new immigration policies at the El Paso–Juárez Immigration and Naturalization Service office, requiring Mexicans crossing the border to take de-lousing baths and be vaccinated. Reports that nude photographs of women bathers and fear of potential fire from the kerosene baths, led Carmelita Torres to refuse to submit to the procedure. Denied a refund of her transport fare, she began yelling at the officials and convinced other riders to join her. After three days, the discontent subsided, but the disinfections of Mexicans at the U.S. border continued for forty years.^[2][3]