Banished Citizens: A History of the Mexican American Women Who Endured Repatriation
Banished Citizens: A History of the Mexican American Women Who Endured Repatriation
Banished Citizens: A History of the Mexican American Women Who Endured Repatriation
Description
Description
A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the Year
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.
Critical Reviews
Critical Reviews
Ramirez uncovers this history through the experiences of four families, each of which illustrates an aspect of harm done, parents and children separated, wealth forfeited, and opportunities lost. Relying primarily on oral histories and family documents, Ramirez focuses on the women who bore the brunt of forced removal.--Brian Tanguay "California Review of Books" (9/6/2025 12:00:00 AM)
Offers important historical and ethnographic insight into a shameful and not often discussed part of America history...[and provides] an insider account of the social relations, economic and political challenges, and intergenerational traumas of the banished Mexican-American community.--Naida García-Crespo "Society for U.S. Intellectual History" (1/11/2026 12:00:00 AM)
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
Through a rich account of four families banished from the United States to Mexico in the early twentieth century, Marla A. Ramírez incisively reveals how illegality was imposed on US citizens and their descendants. Banished Citizens is the rare work of history that tells us as much about the struggles of today as it reveals about our American past.--George J. Sánchez, author of Boyle Heights and Becoming Mexican American
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)" (7/25/2025 12:00:00 AM)
A timely and powerful book that exposes a shameful history.-- "Kirkus Reviews" (6/26/2025 12:00:00 AM)
A moving chronicle of a historical tragedy that echoes in the present day.--Jeff Fleischer "Foreword Reviews" (9/1/2025 12:00:00 AM)
Ramírez has carefully investigated the historical context and traumatic fall-out for the Rodríguez, De Anda, Robles, and Espinoza families...[she] documents these experiences via oral history testimonies, original documents, and photographs; shares insights into the inadequate efforts at reparation; and offers suggestions for effective redress.--Sara Martínez "Booklist" (10/1/2025 12:00:00 AM)
In this timely, passionate study, Ramírez documents the travails of four families among the roughly one million ethnic Mexicans removed from the United States between 1921 and 1944.--Richard Feinberg "Foreign Affairs" (10/21/2025 12:00:00 AM)
Impeccably researched, the book documents how, between 1921 and 1944, more than one million Mexican Americans were forcibly removed from the United States.--JP O'Malley "The Progressive" (10/13/2025 12:00:00 AM)
Publishing Information
Publishing Information
Publisher:
Harvard University Press
Pub date:
2025-10-14
Length:
368 pages
The Allstora Membership
Membership Perks:
- Save 30% on all online store purchases
- Exclusive access to author's content
- You pay less, but authors still earn double
Membership Terms:
First Month:
$0.00
Monthly price:
$5.00
- To access membership discount simply log in and add to cart, discount applied automatically.
- One month free trial, cancel anytime. Membership renews on the 15th of each month.