Carolina Ortega

A product of archival research across the United States and Mexico, this study traces the history of guanajuatense migration to the United States throughout the twentieth century. It argues that even though much has been written about Mexican migration, there is still surprisingly little known about how its history looks from and in migrant sending communities. By beginning the story in early twentieth-century Guanajuato, one of Mexico’s most prolific—but often overlooked—sending states, this dissertation illuminates previously ignored long-term push factors of mass migration. The project’s focus on the lived experiences of migrants whose transborder histories extend far beyond the singular focus of their arrival in the United States deepens scholars’ and the broader public’s understandings of the ways in which the local and regional shaped the migrant journey.