Years ago, Dr. Marla A. Ramírez (no relation), a historian who now teaches at University of Wisconsin-Madison, began researching immigration narratives of undocumented immigrant youth from the U.S.-Mexico border. As she interviewed them, she began with the question: “How do you identify yourself?”

One young man answered with, “I’m a U.S. citizen, but not legally recognized as one.”

It was a record-scratch moment, and one that would eventually complicate her notion of the United States’ history of deportations. She thought that perhaps he meant that he felt culturally American. How could someone be a citizen but not recognized?

“Well, my paternal grandmother is a U.S. citizen, she was born here, but she was kicked out during the Great Depression,” her interviewee said. “Thus, my father w

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