The Alien Citizen: Social Distance and the Economic Returns to Naturalization in the Southwest.

This article examines how social distance from the native-born population influenced the economic returns to citizenship acquisition among immigrants in the United States during the Age of Mass Migration, focusing on immigrant men in the Southwest in 1930. Using a novel continuous measure of social distance derived from historical social surveys, the study finds an inverted U-shaped relationship: immigrant groups socially closest or furthest from native-born whites experienced little occupational advantage from naturalization, while those in the middle social distance range gained significant economic benefits. Specifically, Mexican immigrants, who were generally socially distant, showed no overall economic returns to citizenship; however, within this group, Mexicans classified as white in the 1930 census—likely reflecting closer social distance—did experience occupational gains from naturalization, unlike their nonwhite counterparts. The findings suggest that discrimination and racialized social hierarchies moderated the economic value of citizenship, indicating that citizenship’s benefits were unevenly distributed depending on immigrants’ perceived social proximity to the native-born population.