CREATING A RACIALIZED LIMINAL STATUS: THE 1790 ACT AND INTERSTITIAL CITIZENSHIP.

The article comments on Gabriel J. Chin and Paul Finkelman's paper about the U.S. Naturalization Act of 1790, arguing that the Act acted as a foundation for racialized liminal status. Topics discussed include the case of Philippine-born immigrant Roque Espiritu De La Ysla whose petition for a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1935 was denied, liminality in citizenship law, and the role of the 1790 Act in naturalization cases filed by Filipinos living in the U.S.