Building Citizenship From Below: Precarity, Migration, and Agency by Marcel Paret & Shannon Gleeson

Author:Marcel Paret & Shannon Gleeson [Paret, Marcel & Gleeson, Shannon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Political Science, General
ISBN: 9781351725439
Google: zTgkDwAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 38689516
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2017-05-18T00:00:00+00:00

Borderland attachments: citizenship and belonging along the U.S.–Mexico border

Heidy Sarabia

Department of Sociology and Latin American and Latino Studies Program (LALS), University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

ABSTRACT

This article reveals how economic resources and legal status (vis-à-vis the U.S.) shape national attachments and citizenship practices in the context of the U.S.–Mexico border. Through the comparison of middle- and working-class Mexicans, this article highlights how middle-class Mexicans with tourist visas to travel to the U.S. develop what I call transborder citizenship, while deported working-class migrants – legally banned from returning to the U.S. – engage in what I call transnational citizenship. For middle-class Mexicans, transborder citizenship is exhibited through their frequent cross-border experiences and cross-border citizenship practices; however, they remain rooted locally in Mexico. In contrast, for working-class return migrants, transnational citizenship is defined by their restricted mobility even while they retain personal, social, and economic ties with the U.S. Ultimately, return migrants feel dislocated and uprooted in Mexico. The article uses data from observations and in-depth interviews with Mexican nationals living in the border town of Mexicali, Mexico, conducted from June 2009 to August 2010.

The U.S.–Mexico border is a contradictory region. It is at once a site of cross-border movement (e.g., goods, merchandise, capital, trade, tourists) and of walls intended to stop other flows (e.g., unauthorized migrants and illicit substances). The U.S.–Mexico border is one of the most militarized areas in the northern hemisphere while, at the same time, it is one of the most frequently crossed border in the world. These contradictions allow some people to benefit from economic opportunities and personal options, as they are free to cross this international boundary, while others experience the border as a place of barriers and suffering.

Pedro and Xavier exemplify these contradictions: both are Mexican nationals living along the U.S.–Mexico border in Mexicali and both share much in common. Both are bilingual, fully fluent in both English and Spanish. Both work at a large call center where they are contracted by a U.S. company to answer calls in English from the U.S. Both wear clothing bought in the U.S., and both prefer to watch U.S.-produced television shows and movies. Yet, their experience of the border is drastically different. Pedro – a border cosmopolitan – grew up in Mexico, learned English in private schools, is completing his university degree, and travels to the U.S. on a regular basis. He has a U.S. tourist visa, affording him the privilege to cross the border at will. Xavier – a returnee – grew up in the U.S., learned English while living as an unauthorized migrant in the U.S., has only completed a high school diploma, was deported to Mexico two years ago, and is now banned from returning to the U.S. for 10 years.

Both Pedro and Xavier are Mexican citizens, yet their experiences and national attachments are completely different. Pedro enjoys many privileges due to his class standing and mobility (through the tourist visa) that allows him to feel rooted in Mexico yet unfettered by borders. In contrast,

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