Mexico Didn't Want U.S. Settlers in Texas—It Tried to Stop Them

Mexico opposed Anglo immigration after 1830. Law of April 6, 1830: banned U.S. settlers, canceled empresario contracts, imposed tariffs, garrisoned forts (Anahuac, Velasco). Bustamante's centralist regime feared Texas would become a U.S. proxy.

Stephen F. Austin negotiated exemptions; settlers kept coming illegally. By 1835, Anglos outnumbered Tejanos 10:1. Mexico's enforcement was sporadic, its governance distant. The Alamo (1836) was the flashpoint of a policy failure years in the making.

Mexico didn't welcome them—it lost control of the border.