President Franklin D. Roosevelt promoted a "good neighbor" policy that sought better relations with Mexico. In 1935 a federal judge ruled that three Mexican immigrants were ineligible for citizenship because they were not <answer>white</answer>, as required by federal law. Mexico protested, and Roosevelt decided to circumvent the decision and make sure the federal government treated Hispanics as <answer>white</answer>. The State Department, the Census Bureau, the Labor Department, and other government agencies therefore made sure to uniformly classify people of Mexican descent as <answer>white</answer>. This policy encouraged the League of United Latin American Citizens in its quest to minimize discrimination by asserting their <answer>white</answer>ness.
In 1935, what race was a person required to be to become a United States citizen?
white