Between Church and State in the US–Mexico Borderlands: Cleofás Calleros and the Limits of Belonging

Using the life and writings of Cleofas Calleros, a Mexican-born historian, World War I soldier, and immigration worker, this paper explores how belonging was negotiated across military, religious, and civic organizations in the Southwestern borderlands in the 20th century. Born in Mexico in 1896 and moving to Texas as a child, Calleros joined the U.S. Army in October 1917 by misrepresenting his age and citizenship. Although he became a naturalized citizen less than a year later, and despite being socially and economically embedded in U.S. life, Calleros was still considered “foreign.” In his youth, he attended Catholic schools, worked in dairies, print shops, and the Santa Fe Railway, seeing both racial animosity and opportunity, and approaching adulthood already negotiating the challenging path of integration for Mexicans.

Since military service by itself was unable to reconcile loyalty and recognition to the United States, Calleros turned to it as a tool to mediate his presence in civic life. He developed a lengthy career as the Border Representative for the National Catholic Welfare Conference’s immigration work after the war, managing thousands of immigration and citizenship cases, helping displaced religious workers, instructing citizenship classes, and working within Catholic institutional networks that acted as an intermediary between migrants and the federal government.

This paper makes the case that Calleros was able to serve as a mediator because of his religious beliefs and veteran status, yet neither fully bridged the gap between service, faith, and belonging. He navigated these barriers with persistence, using his personal connections and ties to the Church to carve out positions of influence, but even as he gained authority, it remained fragile. By following this path, the paper shows that religion and military service in the Southwestern borderlands served as central arenas where migrants crafted their own authority and historical voice.