Report on Citizenship Law: Guatemala countries of the American continent, was always seen as pernicious for the interests of the country. Because of this, it was the object of ridicule and of attempts to stop it in the following decades (Barreno, 2004). The new legislation on foreigners and migration issued in 1936 during the dictatorship of Jorge Ubico (1931-1944) was part of a process of institutional consolidation marked by the concentration of power in favour of Ubico and the labour regulations inclined to meet the requirements of German landowners. While during the first years of the 1930s the new government was seen as effective in dealing with the consequences of the 1929 crisis, dictatorial tendencies became increasingly visible. This was the case of the municipal law of 1935, in which municipal autonomy was sacrificed by means of the appointment of mayors by the Executive. Those dissatisfied with the government, sometimes former Ubico supporters, tried unsuccessfully to stop his re-election so as to avoid a new dictatorship, as was also the case of the attempt against the government in 1934. At the same time, the revolt and massacre that took place in the West of El Salvador in 1932 inclined Jorge Ubico to militarise the government even more and to watch over the population in general in order to avoid political risks. The other central element to understand the course of action established in the new Immigration Law was the attempt to identify and supervise the population in general by means of the registration of all inhabitants in the country. The Civil Identity Act of August 5th, 1931, required the registration of “Guatemalans and foreigners” in the Civil Registry of each municipality. This was combined with a change in the military recruitment process in order to promote a more precise control of inhabitants and foreigners. The specific case of the Immigration Act of 1936 reproduces some principles already established in other regulations on the rights of foreigners, classifying them as domiciled and transient, the classification applied to immigrants (Article 8). On the other hand, it defines as foreign those born outside the territory to non-Guatemalan parents, to a foreigner and a Guatemalan mother, and those born to Guatemalan parents who have lost their nationality, etc. (Article 1). Regarding the latter case, it is noteworthy that it could be applied to all expatriates who had to leave the country for political reasons. On the other hand, the law reiterated that those born in any other Central American State could be considered as natural Guatemalans if they expressed their decision before the authorities. It should also be noted that explicit prohibitions to enter Guatemala, for “ethnic reasons”, included those “individuals of yellow or Mongol race”, those of “black race”, gypsies, the eloped or convicted and those expelled from other countries that “profess communist or anarchist ideas” (Article 10). 8 RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2020/2 - © 2020 Author