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Challenging Notions Of U.S. Citizenship: The Contributions Of Mexican Americans, Tracy E. Kirby

Master's Theses

The United States has always been a nation of immigrants, in which the idea of “citizenship” has had very strong intrinsic values, and has divided those who “have it” from those who “don’t,” since the first legal construction of such categories in 1790. Longstanding contradictions, characterized by ceremonies awarding citizenship to some and laws of exclusion, deportation, and forced removal for others, have embodied U.S. approaches to citizenship, and created a dichotomy between “citizen” and “alien.” This Master's Thesis will initiate a discussion and reformulation of what it means to be a citizen in the United States, and more importantly …