Immigrant Positioning in Twentieth-Century Mexico: Middle Easterners, Foreign Citizens, and Multiculturalism.

MEXICO; MIDDLE East

This article explores how immigrants from the Middle East have established their economic and social positions in Mexico. During the presidential regime of Porfirio Díaz, several immigration policies enabled early Middle Eastern immigrants to settle in Mexico. The Mexican Revolution created an atmosphere in which Mexican citizens became hostile towards immigrants. Despite attempts to make Mexico exclusive to its citizens, immigrants from Middle East and other countries have helped create a multiethnic Mexico. It is through this Mexican and Middle Eastern historical context that immigrants have developed relational and contextual uses of identity.