ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the statistics of naturalization certificates granted by Mexican governments over the course of almost two centuries. Based on this information, the author develops a quantitative study of the policy of naturalizing foreigners during the first half of the twentieth century. Figures show the number of naturalized foreigners, their national origins and distribution by sex, marital status, places of residence, and occupations. A correlation is found between new inflows of migrants and the number of naturalization applications. The chapter also explores the gap between the legal regulations on foreigners’ naturalization and the social and political practices that determined the outcome of naturalization applications. In specific, the text looks at arbitrary decisions taken by public officials responsible for applying the laws, as well as corruption in government offices and in the firms of lawyers and private-sector intermediaries that lodged foreigners’ naturalization applications.
