New Americans or Diasporic Nationalists? Mexican Migrant Responses to Naturalization and Implications for Political Participation

Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and in-depth interviews in a citizenship class in Southern California, this paper analyzes Mexican immigrant responses to naturalization. Far from being a conduit for Americanization, the citizenship class emerges as a space where Mexican migrants make the naturaliz...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American quarterly 2008-09, Vol.60 (3), p.601-624
Main Author: Félix, Adrián
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Children
Citizens
Citizenship
Citizenship and State Power
Diaspora
Dual nationality
Field study
Hispanics
Immigrants
Legislation
Mental depression
Migrants
Nationalism
Naturalization
Noncitizens
Pointing
Political activism
Political behavior
Political migration
Political protests
Politics
Public spaces
Rituals
Semiotics
Teachers
Voting rights
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Summary:Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and in-depth interviews in a citizenship class in Southern California, this paper analyzes Mexican immigrant responses to naturalization. Far from being a conduit for Americanization, the citizenship class emerges as a space where Mexican migrants make the naturalization process intelligible on their own cultural and political terms, positing it as a potentially empowering institution for the immigrant rights movement. Among respondents who were once reticent to seek U.S. citizenship, there seems to be a shift in consensus in favor of naturalization as a political tool to secure stability and community empowerment. Similarly, the newly eligible also share a sense of urgency to naturalize in an immigrant-hostile and increasingly precarious political environment. However, ethnic attachment to the homeland does not always wane over time or upon naturalization. The interview data suggests that naturalizers retain their Mexican ethnic identities and loyalties largely in response to the institutional discrimination they face throughout the process of political enfranchisement. Far from being an impediment to political participation, ethnic identification and attachment to the homeland post-naturalization may drive immigrant political participation across international boundaries.
ISSN:0003-0678
1080-6490
1080-6490
DOI:10.1353/aq.0.0036