Immigration agents presumed Middle Easterners Muslim and therefore unassimilable

Evidence

Weeks before his appearance in Los Angeles Superior Court, a naturalization and immigration agent had moved to deny Shishim’s citizenship petition on the grounds that his “Arab identity,” synonymous with Muslim identity, did not meet the legal mandate of whiteness. Judge Hutton seemed persuaded by the immigration examiner’s position, which deemed immigrants from the region Shishim originated from as hostile to American democracy and values, unassimilable, and Muslim unless proven otherwise. However, although Shishim was an Arab, he was also a Christian. In fact, the overwhelming majority of Arabs in the United States in 1909 were Christians. — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 179

Categorization

• XREF: Primitive ‘Muslim unless proven otherwise’ presumption is the structural precursor of Selod’s contemporary surveillance of Muslim bodies. — connects to: Anti-immigration writers frame Muslim immigration as religious warfare on Western civilization — Margaret Hodson, Baby Jihad, 31; Professional Muslim men are disbelieved about their American citizenship and feel alienated; Muslim identity overrides American citizenship in airport profiling — Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, 222 (+14 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 179

Broader Connections

• Muslim identity overrides American citizenship in airport profiling #corroborates (0.85) — Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, 222
• Muslim identity overrides American citizenship status at the border. #corroborates (0.85) — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 306
• Muslim-sounding names trigger false positives on watchlists. #exemplifies (0.85)
• Professional Muslim men are disbelieved about their American citizenship and feel alienated #corroborates (0.80)
• Muslim citizenship in America is negated by religious identity after crises #corroborates (0.80) — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 340
• Muslim bodies are treated as potential terrorists until proven otherwise #corroborates (0.75) — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 282
• An ethnic minority identity invites questions while a Muslim identity invites hostile expulsion #complicates (0.70)
• Being treated as a collective denies Muslims the privileges of citizenship. #expands (0.70)
• Suspicion of Muslims is based on association rather than evidence #expands (0.70)
• The overlap of legal citizenship and perceived foreignness fuels Islamophobia’s missionary zeal. #complicates (0.60)