Up until the nineteenth century, Mexico controlled vast portions of the American southwest. Thus, most of the population therein was of Mexican descent. The two nations are forever linked by this shared history. And over the centuries, Mexico and the United States have generally maintained a positive relationship, even as xenophobic periods have come and gone. It is during one of these racist outbreaks in the 1970s that the Texas legislature passed a statute requiring undocumented children to pay for their public education. Failure to pay meant that the school district could turn away undocumented children. This law was challenged in Plyler v. Doe.