1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910819816503321

Autore

McGreevey Robert

Titolo

Borderline citizens : the United States, Puerto Rico, and the politics of colonial migration / / Robert C. McGreevey

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Ithaca ; ; London : , : Cornell University Press, , 2018

ISBN

1-5017-6460-8

1-5017-1616-6

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (1 online resource.)

Collana

The United States in the world

Disciplina

305.868/7295

Soggetti

Puerto Ricans - United States - History - 20th century

Puerto Ricans - Migrations - History - 20th century

Citizenship - United States - History - 20th century

Puerto Rico Colonial influence

Puerto Rico Emigration and immigration History 20th century

United States Emigration and immigration History 20th century

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Previously issued in print: 2018.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Introduction : migration and empire -- America's Caribbean frontier -- The rise of national status -- Labor networks -- Citizenship and statelessness -- Working people going north -- The Empire State : colonial migrants in New York -- Conclusion : U.S. empire and the boundaries of the nation.

Sommario/riassunto

Borderline Citizens explores the intersection of US colonial power and Puerto Rican migration. Robert C. McGreevey examines a series of confrontations in the early decades of the twentieth century between colonial migrants seeking work and citizenship in the metropole and various groups-employers, colonial officials, court officers, and labor leaders-policing the borders of the US economy and polity. Borderline Citizens deftly shows the dynamic and contested meaning of American citizenship.At a time when colonial officials sought to limit citizenship through the definition of Puerto Rico as a US territory, Puerto Ricans tested the boundaries of colonial law when they migrated to California, Arizona, New York, and other states on the mainland. The conflicts and legal challenges created when Puerto Ricans migrated to the US



mainland thus serve, McGreevey argues, as essential, if overlooked, evidence crucial to understanding U.S. empire and citizenship.McGreevey demonstrates the value of an imperial approach to the history of migration. Drawing attention to the legal claims migrants made on the mainland, he highlights the agency of Puerto Rican migrants and the efficacy of their efforts to find an economic, political, and legal home in the United States. At the same time, Borderline Citizens demonstrates how colonial institutions shaped migration streams through a series of changing colonial legal categories that tracked alongside corporate and government demands for labor mobility. McGreevey describes a history shaped as much by the force of US power overseas as by the claims of colonial migrants within the United States.