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A History of the Mexican American Women Who Endured Repatriation
by Marla A. Ramírez
A moving portrait of a grim period in American immigration history, when approximately one million ethnic Mexicans―mostly women and children who were US citizens―were forced to relocate across the southern border.
From 1921 to 1944, approximately one million ethnic Mexicans living in the United States were removed across the border to Mexico. What officials called "repatriation" was in fact banishment: 60 percent of those expelled were US citizens, mainly working-class women and children whose husbands and fathers were Mexican immigrants. Drawing on oral histories, transnational archival sources, and private collections, Marla A. Ramírez illuminates the lasting effects of coerced mass removal on three generations of ethnic Mexicans.
Ramírez argues that banishment served interests on both sides of the border. In the United States, the government accused ethnic Mexicans of dependence on social services in order to justify removal, thereby scapegoating them for post–World War I and Depression-era economic woes. In Mexico, meanwhile, officials welcomed returnees for their potential to bolster the labor force. In the process, all Mexicans in the United States―citizens and undocumented immigrants alike―were cast as financially burdensome and culturally foreign. Shedding particular light on the experiences of banished women, Ramírez depicts the courage and resilience of their efforts to reclaim US citizenship and return home. Nevertheless, banishment often interrupted their ability to pass on US citizenship to their children, robbed their families of generational wealth, and drastically slowed upward mobility. Today, their descendants continue to confront and resist the impact of these injustices―and are breaking the silence to ensure that this history is not forgotten.
A wrenching account of expulsion and its afterlives, Banished Citizens illuminates the continuing social, legal, and economic consequences of a removal campaign still barely acknowledged in either Mexico or the United States.
"Eye-opening…The most chilling aspect of this extraordinary book is the revelation that much of the legal overreach and anti-immigrant zeal of the present moment has very specific precedent in the past. This offers critical and timely insight into America's long history of scapegoating ethnic minorities for economic woes." ―Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"A timely and powerful book that exposes a shameful history." ―Kirkus Reviews
"A moving chronicle of a historical tragedy that echoes in the present day." ―Foreword Reviews
"We cannot remember history if we were never taught it. Banished Citizens is a crucial text not just for Latina/o history but for the nation's history―one that speaks to democracy, rights, and the dangers of exclusion. This is a history we must remember, not just for the past, but to safeguard the future." ―Natalia Molina, author of A Place at the Nayarit
"A groundbreaking and essential work. Marla A. Ramírez gives voice to a generation too long overlooked, uncovering the resilience, courage, and enduring spirit of those unjustly expelled despite their US citizenship. Both heart-wrenching and deeply inspiring, this beautifully written book is a triumph of historical scholarship and a testament to the power of reclaiming silenced stories. Ramírez's critical insights into the enduring impact of deportation and repatriation could not be more timely or urgent than they are today." ―Mireya Loza, author of Defiant Braceros
This information about Banished Citizens was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Marla A. Ramírez is Assistant Professor of History and Chicanx/e and Latinx/e Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
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