Yellen, Ben, 1907-1994

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An American physician educated and trained at Columbia University and the Long Island School of Medicine, Yellen migrated to Brawley, Calif., in 1942, where he founded a successful medical practice that primarily served agricultural workers and migrants. Approximately ten years later, Yellen emerged as one of the leading proponents for enforcing rights of local farm workers (domestic and migrant) and for inhibiting the growth of large, corporate farms. In 1961, Yellen helped to usher through the legal system a case arguing for enforcement of the Reclamation Law of 1902 to the Imperial Valley growers. In 1964, he won a four-year term on the Brawley town council. In the last decade of his life, Yellen was sued for malpractice, which cost him his medical license. During this period he also sued U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, addressing once again the plight of domestic farm workers displaced by the use of illegal immigrants. The suit never made it to court, largely due to Yellen's death on 1 July 1994 at the age of 87.

From the description of Ben Yellen papers, 1945-1994. (University of California, San Diego). WorldCat record id: 32459059

An American physician educated and trained at Columbia University and the Long Island School of Medicine, Yellen migrated to Brawley, Calif., in 1942, where he founded a successful medical practice that primarily served agricultural workers and migrants. Approximately ten years later, Yellen emerged as one of the leading proponents for enforcing rights of local farm workers (domestic and migrant) and for inhibiting the growth of large, corporate farms. In 1961, Yellen helped to usher through the legal system a case arguing for enforcement of the Reclamation Law of 1902 to the Imperial Valley growers. In 1964, he won a four-year term on the Brawley town council. In the last decade of his life, Yellen was sued for malpractice, which cost him his medical license. During this period he also sued U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, addressing once again the plight of domestic farm workers displaced by the use of illegal immigrants. The suit never made it to court, largely due to Yellen's death on 1 July 1994, at the age of 87.

From the description of Ben Yellen / Charles L. Smith correspondence, 1960-2006. (University of California, San Diego). WorldCat record id: 80748716

Historical Background

The Reclamation Act of 1902 authorized the United States government to create water projects to help open arid lands to small farmers. The original act included provisions to ensure wide distribution of the benefits of federal projects and to prevent land speculation and monopolies. These provisions are at the center of contention in the two trials contained in this collection. Section 5 of the Reclamation Act provided that no right to the use of water for land in private ownership should be sold for a tract exceeding 160 acres to any one landowner. Section 5 also required that recipients of federal water benefits live on or near the land that was irrigated.

The Imperial Valley is an area located in southeastern California and lies below sea level. It is an arid desert in its natural state but irrigation began in the Valley long before the federal water projects. Since 1901, a privately-funded delivery and distribution system had harnessed Colorado River water for irrigation via the Alamo Canal. This canal ran for over sixty miles through Mexico before re-entering the United States to irrigate the Imperial Valley, and continued in existence until 1940, well after the building of the All American Canal. Therefore, the Imperial Valley landowners argued that they were exempt from the 160-acre and residency requirements because they possessed pre-existing rights to the Colorado River water.

When the seven states of the Colorado River Basin executed the 1922 Colorado River Compact they included Article VIII stating, "[p]resent perfected rights to the beneficial use of waters of the Colorado River System are unimpaired by this compact." Further, when the Boulder Canyon Project Act became effective in 1929, (authorizing funding for the Hoover and Imperial Dams, as well as the All American Canal) it required the Secretary of the Interior to observe rights to Colorado River water that had been perfected under state law at the time the law became effective. By 1929, the Imperial Valley was already irrigating 424,145 acres of land without any restrictions as to size or residency.

Dr. Ben Yellen, a long-time social justice activist in the Imperial Valley, brought the initial suit against the Imperial Irrigation District (IID) in federal district court to enforce the 160-acre limitation. He and former farmworker-residents of the Imperial Valley argued that the non-enforcement of the limitation denied these farmers of modest income an opportunity to buy land. The United States Supreme Court later upheld the farmers right to bring this cause of action even though the farmers could not, with certainty, establish that they would be able to purchase land even if the 160-acre limitation were upheld. Dr. Yellen also instituted a lawsuit against the IID for enforcement of the residency requirement.

In 1964, the Department of the Interior, under which the Bureau of Reclamation functions, reversed decades of administrative practice, and agreed that non-enforcement of the 160-acre limitation in the Imperial Valley was inconsistent with reclamation law principles. When the Interior Department attempted to enforce the provision, the IID sought and won an injunction to stop enforcement. The United States then brought suit against the IID and the partial official transcript of that action is contained in the files of this collection.

The subsequent history of the cases is not contained within this collection. The "United States vs. Imperial Irrigation District" case was appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals which held that the 160-acre provision should be enforced against the IID landowners. The victory for Dr. Yellen and the small farmers of the Imperial Valley was short-lived.

In 1980, the case, consolidated with Yellen's earlier lawsuit and a State of California lawsuit, was conclusively settled by the United States Supreme Court when it reversed the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals' decision. Justice Byron R. White, writing for a unanimous Court, in the case now titled, "Bryant v. Yellen," held that Imperial Valley landowners as of 1929 (the year the Boulder River Canyon Project Act became effective), had "present perfected rights" (now in trust with the IID) that could be exercised without regard to the land limitation provisions.

By analogy, this rationale seems to support the non-enforcement of the residency requirement at issue in "Yellen vs. Secretary of Interior," but the Supreme Court did not address that issue, and the ultimate outcome of that case is not within the collections files.

From the guide to the Yellen Versus Imperial Irrigation District Collection, 1970 - 1972, (University of California, San Diego. Geisel Library. Mandeville Special Collections Library.)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Yellen, Ben, 1907-1994. Yellen versus Imperial Irrigation District collection, 1970-1972. University of California, San Diego, UC San Diego Library; UCSD Library
referencedIn Salandini, Victor P. Victor Salandini papers, 1952-1989. Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
creatorOf Yellen, Ben, 1907-1994. Ben Yellen papers, 1945-1994. University of California, San Diego, UC San Diego Library; UCSD Library
creatorOf Yellen Versus Imperial Irrigation District Collection, 1970 - 1972 University of California, San Diego. Geisel Library. Mandeville Special Collections Library.
referencedIn National Land for People collection, Bulk, 1972-1983, 1850-1991 Special Collections Research Center, California State University, Fresno
creatorOf Yellen, Ben, 1907-1994. Ben Yellen / Charles L. Smith correspondence, 1960-2006. University of California, San Diego, UC San Diego Library; UCSD Library
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith All-American Canal System (U.S.) corporateBody
associatedWith Ballis, George Elfie, 1925-2010 person
associatedWith Ballis, Maia person
associatedWith Continental Life Insurance Co. corporateBody
associatedWith Desert Growers Assoc. corporateBody
associatedWith Desert Growers Assoc. corporateBody
associatedWith Imperial Irrigation District (Calif.). corporateBody
associatedWith Salandini, Victor P. person
associatedWith Smith, Charles L., person
associatedWith Taylor, Paul Schuster, 1895-1984, person
Place Name Admin Code Country
California, Southern
Imperial Irrigation District (Calif.)
California, Southern
Imperial Valley (Calif. and Mexico)
Brawley (Calif.)
Imperial Irrigation District (Calif.)
Imperial County (Calif.)
Brawley (Calif.)
Imperial County (Calif.)
Imperial Valley (Calif. and Mexico
United States
Imperial Valley (Calif. and Mexico)
Subject
Agricultural laborers
Foreign workers, Mexican
Irrigation laws
Irrigation laws
Irrigation water
Irrigation water
Migrant labor
Physicians
Political activists
Reclamation of land
Water resources development
Water resources development
Water rights
Water-supply
Water-supply
Water transfer
Water transfer
Occupation
Activity

Person

Birth 1907

Death 1994

Information

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