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Banished Citizens: A History of the Mexican American Women Who Endured Repatriation
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 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.
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 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.
368 pages, Hardcover
Published October 14, 2025
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355 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 15, 2026
This book is must-read history. The book details how US citizens of Mexican descent were systematically removed and banished from the US after World War I and continuing until World War II.
The book follows 4 families as they unpack their banishment, their treatment in the US and in Mexico, and their quests to re-establish their citizenship in the US that was unjustly and wrongly taken from them.
All of the US citizens of Mexican descent were targeted due to the color of their skin. Many were told that their US birth certificates were lies. Families had their official documents confiscated from them. Many were given hours or a few days to leave behind lives in the US that could be traced back generations.
These families not only lost their citizenship and belonging in their home country, but they also lost out on the building of generational wealth. Many were not able to return for 20-30 years, and had to jump through expensive and countless legal hurdles despite having been wrongfully banished by their home country.
Ironically, many were also welcomed and asked to return to the US during WWII when strong laborers were needed to support the war only to be kicked out or received racist treatment despite their work ethic.
The history outlined in this book deserves to be taught. In Trump’s second term we are seeing Hispanics and Latinos, many of whom are US citizens or who have lived here legally for decades, be rounded up and confined and/or deported. It is important to understand that this is not the first time - history is repeating itself. It was racist then and it is racist now.
The book is well researched, well documented, and relies on pictures, oral history, and newspapers.
The book follows 4 families as they unpack their banishment, their treatment in the US and in Mexico, and their quests to re-establish their citizenship in the US that was unjustly and wrongly taken from them.
All of the US citizens of Mexican descent were targeted due to the color of their skin. Many were told that their US birth certificates were lies. Families had their official documents confiscated from them. Many were given hours or a few days to leave behind lives in the US that could be traced back generations.
These families not only lost their citizenship and belonging in their home country, but they also lost out on the building of generational wealth. Many were not able to return for 20-30 years, and had to jump through expensive and countless legal hurdles despite having been wrongfully banished by their home country.
Ironically, many were also welcomed and asked to return to the US during WWII when strong laborers were needed to support the war only to be kicked out or received racist treatment despite their work ethic.
The history outlined in this book deserves to be taught. In Trump’s second term we are seeing Hispanics and Latinos, many of whom are US citizens or who have lived here legally for decades, be rounded up and confined and/or deported. It is important to understand that this is not the first time - history is repeating itself. It was racist then and it is racist now.
The book is well researched, well documented, and relies on pictures, oral history, and newspapers.
January 9, 2026
Banished Citizens is a deeply moving and rigorously researched account of one of the most overlooked episodes in American immigration history. Marla A. Ramírez brings long silenced voices to the forefront, revealing how US citizens predominantly Mexican American women and children were forcibly removed under the guise of “repatriation,” with consequences that reverberate across generations.
What makes this book especially powerful is its focus on women’s lived experiences. Drawing from oral histories, transnational archives, and family collections, Ramírez shows how banishment disrupted citizenship, stripped families of generational wealth, and permanently altered social mobility. At once scholarly and emotionally resonant, Banished Citizens reframes national narratives of belonging, legality, and exclusion, making it an essential work for readers interested in immigration history, women’s history, and social justice.
What makes this book especially powerful is its focus on women’s lived experiences. Drawing from oral histories, transnational archives, and family collections, Ramírez shows how banishment disrupted citizenship, stripped families of generational wealth, and permanently altered social mobility. At once scholarly and emotionally resonant, Banished Citizens reframes national narratives of belonging, legality, and exclusion, making it an essential work for readers interested in immigration history, women’s history, and social justice.
February 13, 2026
My interest in this book came from the blurb, which said it focuses on Mexican American women who faced repatriation. Between 1921 and 1944, up to one million people were deported or pressured to leave the U.S. for Mexico, a large portion of whom were U.S. citizens.
This is a dense academic book that I wish were told in a more narrative, accessible style. What I liked were the oral histories and family narratives that documented their resilience and struggles in returning home from Mexico.
However, you will learn a lot from this book, especially if you don't know the history of repatriation in the USA.
This is a dense academic book that I wish were told in a more narrative, accessible style. What I liked were the oral histories and family narratives that documented their resilience and struggles in returning home from Mexico.
However, you will learn a lot from this book, especially if you don't know the history of repatriation in the USA.
January 27, 2026
This book reads very academic in that it is the product of the authors post doctoral thesis research. The intended audience seems to be her colleagues rather than the general public. It’s a little dense and very repetitive; HOWEVER, I did actually learn a lot. I was very uneducated in the history and timeline of our immigration laws. This research focuses on Mexican American citizens that were deported in the 1920-40s due to lots of social and economic reasons. Interesting subject matter that better helps me to understand what’s been happening in our country the last 9 years or so.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews