Citizenship on the Margins: A Critique of Scholarship on Marginalized Women and Community Activism

This critical review essay addresses the underappreciation of citizenship inequalities in scholarship on marginalized women’s community activism in the United States. Although both students of citizenship and women’s grassroots resistance argue that neither citizenship nor lived experience is an individual‐level phenomenon or a public issue divorced from private troubles and that politics need not be formal and male, the two literatures do not break bread with each other. I contend that this lack of cross‐pollination owes to our fixation on the hallowed trifecta of race, class, gender intersectionality, but one that has elided the fact that the three have always constituted, and been constituted by, citizenship. Despite the fact that in recent decades immigrant women of color have taken the helm of community campaigns – such as in social reproduction (e.g. schools, churches, health), Environmental Justice, and immigration reform – few scholars mention citizenship and thus few analyze citizenship racism and its ties to other axes of inequality. I critique the existing scholarship by drawing on the contributions of the few works that analyze and intersect citizenship within women’s community resistance struggles. I then point to future research directions to underscore their importance in an age of more exclusionary and draconian citizenship paradigms.     

After the transnational turn: Looking across borders to see the hard face of the nation-state

This paper leverages the repressive turn in U.S. migration policy to understand how a cross-border perspective can illuminate the experiences of two different, but contemporaneous second-generation populations: Those whose lives have unfurled in the United States, all the while growing up in internationalized families with ongoing homeland ties; and those whose childhoods began in the United States, but were disrupted as part of the ‘Great Expulsion’, and thus migrated to Mexico, albeit often with U.S. citizenship and almost always with cross-border ties to family members still living in the United States. As the paper demonstrates, looking across borders highlights the importance of the territorial frontier and the continuing power of the national to undermine the forces that produce cross-border connections.     

The Latina/o Racial and Citizenship Divide on Perceptions of the Influence of Immigrant Mobilizations*

In spring 2006, the United States witnessed immigrant marches throughout the nation. Although Latina/os are often depicted as the “face” of the immigrant marches, we know little about how racial and citizenship statuses shaped Latina/os’ perceptions of how the marches influenced public perceptions of undocumented immigrants. Using logistic regression on data from the 2006 National Survey of Latinos, we find that Latina/os identifying as white are less likely to be supportive of the immigrant marches than those who defied standard racial classifications, and instead identified as “Latina/o.” Moreover, Latina/os who are born in the United States are not as supportive of the immigrant marches in comparison with naturalized citizens and non‐citizen Latina/os, accounting for demographic and human capital factors. This study suggests there is a “racial‐ and citizenship divide” among Latina/os that fragments perceptions on the immigrant mobilizations in the United States.     

Earnings of foreign-born doctoral engineers in the United States: intersectionality of citizenship status and gender

Abstract

Foreign-born scientists and engineers in the United States make significant contributions to their fields. While some studies of their career outcomes investigate the internal differences among immigrant scientists and engineers, there is little scholarly attention to how immigration status and gender work together in shaping their career outcomes. This study employs the intersectionality framework and uses National Science Foundation’s Survey of Doctorate Recipients 2008, 2010, 2013, 2015, and 2017 to examine how citizenship status and the intersection of citizenship status and gender affect earnings among engineers with doctoral degrees. Findings show that naturalized U.S. citizens do not earn less than comparable native-born citizens, but permanent residents and temporary residents do. In terms of intersectional effects, U.S.-born women experience an earnings disadvantage due to their gender, naturalized U.S. citizen women and permanent resident women face earnings disadvantages because of both citizenship status and gender, and temporary resident women earn less because of their citizenship status. The preceding findings persisted in the period of study with one exception. These findings reveal the internal variations among foreign-born engineers, intersectional effects of citizenship status and gender, and the complexity and persistence of these effects, suggesting the intersectional and enduring nature of inequality.     

Political Incorporation Among Immigrants from Ten Areas of Origin: The Persistence of Source Country Effects

Using four years of data from the Current Population Survey, this study examines the effect of country of origin on two types of political incorporation among immigrants ‐ citizenship and voting ‐ in the contemporary United States. Results show that country of origin is a statistically significant predictor of citizenship acquisition for nine of ten immigrant groups and for voter turnout for five of ten groups, net of income, education, length of residence in the United States, and other demographic characteristics. The findings also suggest that country of origin matters as much for how it interacts with other key characteristics, such as education and income, as for the independent influence it exerts on these two political processes. For immigrants from most countries under examination, lower levels of education and income discourage citizenship acquisition. An exception is found among Britons, for whom lower levels of income encourages naturalizing. In the voting process, higher levels of education encourage voter turnout for most immigrant groups. Though country of origin has a greater effect on naturalizing than on voting, it significantly impacts both types of political incorporation. The differing effects of country of origin and other demographic factors on naturalizing and voting, respectively, suggest the two processes are distinct from one another.     

Marginalizing the Self: A Study of Citizenship,Color, and Ethnoracial Identity in American Society

From 1870 to 1952, naturalization legislation in the United States of America restricted citizenship to “free white persons” and “persons of African nativity” or “African descent.” Individuals categorized as “members of the Mongolian race” or as of neither “free white” nor “African descent or nativity” were excluded from membership in the American political community and designated “aliens ineligible for citizenship in the United States.” Examination of the appellate and Supreme Court adjudications of these matters reveals a juridical rhetoric that functioned to marginalize all those declared ineligible for civic status. Although the reasoning process employed by the courts was not dissimilar from that arising whenever individual disparate aggregates must be classified according to a limited set of categories, in the situations under study, it produced and legitimated an invidious hierarchy of peoples, a race-prejudicial sense of vertical group position, and a fundamental departure from the universalistic and individualistic claims that defended America as a thoroughgoing civil society.     

Immigrating for status in late life: Effects of globalization on Filipino American veterans

In this article we examine the late-life immigration of Filipino American veterans who have recently been awarded U.S. citizenship based on their military service to the United States during World War II. Based on data collected with 27 Filipino American veterans, we found that the primary motivation for veterans' immigration from the Philippines in late life is economic. When Filipino veterans decide to come to the United States, they do so to collect the financial benefits of citizenship and for the recognition and status it brings, especially within the family. In immigrating, Filipino American veterans live with considerable uncertainty about what the future holds, but at the same time they accrue power and status that ensures their continued centrality in their families. Such action enables them to maintain their independence in old age. The phenomenon of late-life immigration among Filipino American veterans is a case study in globalization and the fluid identities that elders maintain in moving back and forth between these linked worlds.     

Factors Associated with the Poverty Status of Asian Immigrant Householders by Citizenship Status

As a response to changing profiles of the Asian population in the United States, this study examines the demographic, human capital, and acculturation factors that are associated with the official poverty status of Asian immigrant householders by their U.S. citizenship status. From the 1990 Census Public Use Microdata Sample (Census of Population and Housing, 1990a), responses from 229,004 Asian householders are analyzed using hierarchical bivariate logistic regression. The results suggests that high levels of human capital and acculturation reduce the odds of Asian householders living below the official poverty threshold, regardless of their citizenship status. The degree to which the selected variables are associated with poverty status varies by citizenship status.     

Notebooks as Projects in a History Course

This article focuses on high school students' knowledge and notions of citizenship after taking the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Naturalization Test. The students' test results and responses show emerging support for the need to make changes to the test as well as the students' limited conceptions of citizenship. In addition, this study's methodological benefits and challenges are discussed with implications for future research and practice.     

Earnings differences among the Mexican-origin population in the United States: nativity and citizenship explanations

The authors "use data from the June 1986 Current Population Survey to investigate nativity and citizenship differences in earnings within the Mexican-origin population in the United States. There is no evidence of any ?costs' of nativity or citizenship status. Rather, the existing variation appears to be more than explained by the distribution of earnings-related endowments. In fact, there is evidence that immigrants are better rewarded for their lower endowments. A possible explanation is that the Mexican-origin population is seen as homogeneous by employers, who therefore compensate individuals similarly, regardless of their respective endowments."     

Economics: A Teaching Aid to History

Numerous studies have highlighted a clear civic achievement gap between students from different ethnic and economic backgrounds in countries such as Singapore and the United States. Concurrently, researchers from both countries have noted that access to government and civics classes and curricula differs considerably across and within schools and school districts. Drawing on research studies conducted in both countries, this article compares the provision of citizenship education in two very different education systems: the United States and Singapore. The article also analyzes some of the explicit and implicit arguments that have been used in support of these policies and examines the potential implications of these policies for the education of young citizens. In both countries, studies strongly indicate that the formal and de facto differentiated access to citizenship education as a result of sorting students into different education tracks implicates students’ ability to be full and equal citizens.     

The North American Naturalization Gap: An Institutional Approach to Citizenship Acquisition in the United States and Canada1

Using 1990 U.S. Census 5% PUMS and 1991 Canadian Census 3% public and 20% restricted microfiles, this article demonstrates the existence of a North American naturalization gap: immigrants living in Canada are on average much more likely to be citizens than their counterparts in the United States, and they acquire citizenship much faster than those living south of the border. Current theories explaining naturalization differences – focusing on citizenship laws, group traits or the characteristics of individual migrants – fail to explain the naturalization gap. Instead, I propose an institutional approach to citizenship acquisition. States' normative stances regarding immigrant integration (interventionist or autonomous) generate integrated or disconnected institutional configurations between government, ethnic organizations and individuals. Evidence from a case study of Portuguese immigrants living in Massachusetts and Ontario suggests that in Toronto government bureaucrats and federal policy encourage citizenship through symbolic support and instrumental aid to ethnic organizations and community leaders. In contrast, Boston area grassroots groups are expected to mobilize and aid their constituents without direct state support, resulting in lower citizenship levels.     

Under Two Flags: Dual Nationality in Latin America and Its Consequences for Naturalization in the United States

This article surveys the practice of dual nationality in the Western Hemisphere, particularly as it impacts the naturalization rates of immigrants in the United States. The article begins by looking at the extent and spread of dual nationality provisions and the pathways for its implementation. Next, the article turns to a discussion of the multiple (and at times conflicting) interests – of immigrants, sending states and receiving states – in dual nationality. While immigrants and sending countries are in general agreement on the positive benefits of dual nationality, commentators in receiving countries like the United States continue to express deep unease at the spread of dual nationality and its consequences for American citizenship. Are these concerns justified? Not according to U.S. naturalization rates. Data from 1965 to 1997 indicate that immigrants from countries recognizing dual nationality average higher naturalization rates in the United States than countries that do not.     

Nativity,Duration of Residence,Citizenship, and Access to Health Care for Hispanic Children

This article examines differences in access to a regular source of health care for children of Hispanic subgroups within the United States. Particular attention is paid to the impact of the immigration status of the mother – including nativity, duration in the United States, and citizenship status – and its affect on access to health care for Hispanic children. Data are pooled from the National Health Interview Survey for 1999–2001 and logistic regression models are estimated to compare Mexican American, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Other Hispanic children with non‐Hispanic whites and blacks. While initial disparities are recorded among the race/ethnic groups, in the final model, only Mexican American children display significantly less access to health care than non‐Hispanic whites. The combined influence of the mother's nativity, duration, and citizenship status explains much of the differentials in access to a regular source of care among children of Hispanic subgroups in comparison to non‐Hispanic whites.     

Sociology

The authors describe how three elementary teachers working in very different parts of the United States teach about Mexico. These teachers' practices allow them to enhance the traditional social studies curriculum, help children learn about themselves and other people, and increase children's capacities for global citizenship.     

Germany at the crossroads: national identity and the challenges of immigration

"In Germany the discussion [of immigration] is taking place between two extreme positions, one that denies Germany is de facto an immigration country...and one that compares Germany with traditional immigration societies like the United States, Canada, or Australia. As will be demonstrated, both arguments are too simplistic.... To illustrate the importance of migration movements for Germany's national fabric, first an overview of the history of pre- and postwar migrations and refugee movements as well as their effects on the domestic situation in Germany are presented. Next, the origins of the contradictory nature of the current asylum, citizenship and naturalization regulations and the need to redefine Germany's legal framework, immigration policy, and national identity after unification are discussed."     

Anthropology and the theorisation of citizenship

In this paper I argue for the importance of theorising citizenship as an independent axis of social inequality in the contemporary world. As a foil, I take two intertwined tendencies within anthropological writings on migration. First is the historical trend of anthropology as a discipline to theorise against the grain of the nation-state. Second is the tendency within anthropological studies of transnationalism and migration to theorise their subject in terms of Marxian understandings of class and exploitation or in terms of the intersecting dimensions of race, class and gender (but not citizenship). The result of these approaches is to elide the role of national boundaries and citizenship as significant theoretical objects in themselves. To build my approach, I contrast the production of migrant ‘illegality’ in three national contexts: the United States, China and Australia.     

Migration and international relations: cooperation and control in the European Community

"In this article I have developed a political-economic framework for understanding international migration in postwar Europe and the United States." The author begins by reviewing four theories of international relations and gives a short critique of their main assumptions. He "finds that international migration reveals a contradiction between the main economic purpose of the postwar international order--to promote exchange--and the national perquisites of sovereignty and citizenship."     

Unauthorized Status and Youth Development in the United States: Consensus Statement of the Society for Research on Adolescence

In the United States, 5.3 million children and adolescents are growing up either with unauthorized status or with at least one parent who has that status. Until recently, little in the way of research has informed federal, state, and local policy debates related to unauthorized status (e.g., border enforcement, deportation, and a pathway to citizenship) although these issues have important implications for youth development. This statement is a brief summary of the research evidence on multiple domains of development that may be affected by the child or parent's unauthorized status. We also describe the contextual and psychological mechanisms that may link this status to developmental outcomes. We summarize a range of policies and practices that could reduce the developmental harm to children, youth, and their families stemming from this status. Finally, we conclude with recommendations for policy, practice, and research that are based on the evidence reviewed.     

The image of the United States in the Chinese media: An examination of the evaluative component of framing

This study examines the presentation of the image of the United States in 874 news stories carried in five Chinese newspapers – from a framing perspective. It has yielded four major findings: (1) the political image of the United States is presented by the Chinese press in a relatively balanced fashion, depicted as one that embodies contradictory attributes: positive and negative, strong but aggressive, democratic but hypocritical; (2) the economic image of the United States is presented as one that is undergoing a recession but full of hope in recovery; and (3) the social image is one that features “fair play with minor skirmishes”; and (4) the cultural image is one that is diverse, free, democratic, advanced in science and technology, but hegemonic and biased.