In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

6 Inadmissibility An alien seeking initial admission has no constitutional rights regarding his application, for the power to admit or exclude aliens is a sovereign prerogative. —Landon v. Plasencia The list of grounds for exclusion of noncitizens from admission into the United States in the Immigration and Nationality Act “is like a magic mirror , reflecting the fears and concerns of past Congresses.” —Lennon v. INS U S immigration laws create general rules for admission to and removal from the United States but generally fail to make any special rules recognizing the special relationship between the United States and Mexico, neighboring nations that share a land border extending thousands of miles and that saw a dramatic increase in social and economic intercourse over the twentieth century. One might think that the unique history of US–Mexico relations might have an impact on the treatment of Mexican nationals under US immigration laws. That, however, is not the case. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended the US–Mexican War in 1848, and the North American Free Trade Agreement fail to address migration between the two nations (see chapter 2).1 As a result, there are generally no special rules that govern migration between the United States and Mexico. This chapter briefly outlines two important treaties between the United States and Mexico and their failure to address immigration between the two nations. It then considers grounds for denying admission to noncitizens who are eligible for a visa. Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo 107 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo Much of what is now the American Southwest became part of the United States under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo after the US–Mexican War ended in 1848. Although not dealing generally with the migration of persons from Mexico to the United States, the treaty addressed the citizenship rights of Mexican citizens living in the large block of territory ceded under the treaty to the United States. Article VIII provides that: Mexicans now established in territories previously belonging to Mexico, and which remain for the future within . . . the United States . . . shall be free to continue where they now reside, or to remove to the Mexican Republic. . . . Those who shall prefer to remain in said territories, may either retain the title and rights of Mexican citizens, or acquire those of citizens of the United States. But, they shall be under the obligation to make their election within one year from the date of the exchange of ratifications of this treaty; and those who shall remain in said territories, after the expiration of that year, without having declared their intention to retain the character of Mexicans, shall be considered to have elected to become citizens of the United States. Article IX further provides that: The Mexicans who . . . shall not preserve the character of citizens of the Mexican Republic . . . shall be incorporated into the Union of the United States and be admitted,at the proper time (to be judged by the Congress of the United States) to the enjoyment of all rights of citizens of the United States according to the principles of the Constitution. (emphasis added) Both articles of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo promised Mexican citizens in the surrendered territories the option of US citizenship and guaranteed those who exercised that option the same rights as all other US citizens. The liberality of the citizenship provisions for Mexican citizens provoked controversy, with some Americans expressing the view that Mexicans were unworthy of US citizenship. Articles VIII and IX of the treaty resulted in some benefits for Mexican citizens. For example, although most racial minorities were treated as nonwhites in a time when US law generally limited naturalization to “white” immigrants, the court in one important case found that the Treaty 108 Inadmissibility of Guadalupe Hidalgo compelled the classification of Mexican immigrants as “white” for naturalization purposes. The court found that Article VIII compelled the conclusion that citizenship rights applied to “Mexicans (and the term includes all Mexicans, without discrimination as to color).”2 As summarized in chapter 2, the United States experienced great difficulty in honoring the promise of equal citizenship in Article IX of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo to the new US citizens of Mexican ancestry. For example, Anglos, with the help of the US government, invoked various legal and illegal mechanisms to strip persons of Mexican ancestry of their property rights. Similarly, the California Supreme Court rejected a challenge under the treaty to a California foreign miners tax directed at persons of Mexican ancestry.3...

Share