full term in the U.S. Senate in 1934. When Chávez was sworn-in, six senators allegedly stood abruptly, turned their backs to Chávez, and angrily left the chamber. During his time in office, Senator Chávez was a major proponent of the New Deal, and he was at least partially successful at securing benefits for New Mexicans. What became known in New Mexico as the "Latino New Deal" was a rare extension of New Deal benefits to Mexican Americans. In the state, newly funded education programs improved literacy rates, and vocational programs revived the production of Hispano craft goods like santero artwork, woven goods, and furniture. WPA agents taught New Mexicans how to market their items to tourists. Later, Senator Chávez became known for his civil rights advocacy, as he fought to expand notions of American citizenship. In 1935, a federal judge in New York upheld an immigration officer's decision to deny the naturalization petitions of three Mexicans on the grounds that they were not white, but instead individuals "of Indian and Spanish blood". Whiteness, which had been a requirement for naturalized citizenship since 1790, remained so until 1940. If the 1935 ruling had been upheld, it would have rendered the majority of Mexicans ineligible for citizenship. President Roosevelt - who had only recently replaced American interventionist policies, such as the Roosevelt Corollary, with his own diplomatic approach of the Good Neighbor Policy - was concerned that denying Mexicans the opportunity to naturalize would hurt Mexico-U.S. relations. He thus urged the State Department to "quiet the controversy", pressuring the judge to reverse the decision. The Labor Department issued guidance to its border officials that "in all future cases, [Mexican] immigrants be classified as 'white. In April 1938, Luisa Moreno and group of Mexican American labor activists, including Josefina Fierro, Eduardo Quevedo, and Bert Corona, organized the inaurural conference of El Congreso de Pueblos de Hablan Española in Los Angeles, an organization meant to promote a broad agenda of working class empowerment, civil rights, and Latino unity. In their founding constitution, the organizers also endorsed the rights of Mexicans to live and work in the U.S. without having to fear coerced deportation. El Congreso also never promoted assimilation, in direct contradiction to other organizations like LULAC (which focused on the desegregation of employment, housing, education, and all public facilities). El Congreso was notable for their early stands promoting immigrant rights despite the widespread