| Publication |
2010.
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| Summary/Abstract |
This article draws on archival records of events in California's Imperial Valley in 1940 that resulted in the arrests and deportation of a group of Mexican workers, some of whom were known union activists. The workers had entered the country lawfully and had lived in the United States for years. These immigrants were nevertheless vulnerable because they were receiving treatment for a communicable disease. This, according to immigration officials, rendered them "likely to become a public charge" (LPC), a deportable offense. Officially designating Mexicans as LPCs discredited them at the same time that it circumvented any discussion of possible violation of labor rights or civil rights, both key aspects of government-sponsored reform efforts underway at the time. Constructions of subjects as illegal, diseased, and threats to the nation-state came together in such a way that provided a surefire formula for marking Mexicans as deportable.
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