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Undocumented: How Immigration Became Illegal
A longtime immigration activist explores what it means to be an undocumented American—revealing the ever-shifting nature of status in the U.S.—in this “impassioned and well-reported case for change (New York Times) In this illuminating work, immigrant rights activist Aviva Chomsky shows how “illegality” and “undocumentedness” are concepts that were created to exclude and exploit. With a focus on US policy, she probes how people, especially Mexican and Central Americans, have been assigned this status—and to what ends. Blending history with human drama, Chomsky explores what it means to be undocumented in a legal, social, economic, and historical context. The result is a powerful testament of the complex, contradictory, and ever-shifting nature of status in America.
257 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 13, 2014
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About the author
Aviva Chomsky
20 books175 followersAviva Chomsky is professor of history and coordinator of Latin American Studies at Salem State University. The author of several books, Chomsky has been active in Latin American solidarity and immigrants' rights issues for over twenty-five years. She lives in Salem, Massachusetts.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 131 reviews
June 30, 2016
I checked this book out from the library but it had a lot of important things I want to remember for future reference so I'm going to diligently re-type a lot of the facts and tidbits I found particularly important/insightful:
"Was it a paradox that the Border Patrol was created in the 1920s, just when agribusiness, with its need for migrant labor, was rapidly expanding in the Southwest? Several scholars argue that in fact the system worked well for farmers who needed migrant workers. Mexican workers could still cross the border easily, but because they became more deportable, the new laws also made them more exploitable. 'Agribusiness kicked, winked, screamed, lobbied, and cajoled for border patrol practices that allowed unrestricted access to Mexican workers while promoting effective discipline over the region's Mexican workforce.' Deportability was part of that discipline. Local officials served farmers' interests by carrying out deportation raids in cases of union organizing or, sometimes, just before payday" (54).
"Mexican workers' theoretical deportability became real in 1929, as the country entered the Great Depression. On the pretext that they were like to 'become a public charge' as employment opportunities evaporated, both Mexicans and Mexican Americans were rounded up for deportation. A 'frenzy of anti-Mexican hysteria' justified roundups of entire Mexican neighborhoods and hundreds of thousands were deported with little attention to legal niceties" (55).
"[T]he Eisenhower administration initiated Operation Wetback, a massive, military-style sweep of Mexican and Mexican American neighborhoods aimed at deporting en masse those deemed to be in the country 'illegally.' Over a million were deported. Like the deportations of the 1930s, Operation Wetback snared many individuals, including US citizens, simply for being ethnically Mexican" (58).
"The 1986 law also for the first time made it illegal to employ a worker without proper documents. Employer sanctions created an enormous and costly illegal infrastructure that migrants had to navigate to obtain false documents in order to work, but did little to reduce the numbers of undocumented workers. Moreover, the law left employers virtually immune to prosecution, and with even greater ability to exploit their now more legally vulnerable workers" (62).
"Among the undocumented Mayans of Providence, Rhode Island, Patricia Foxen found a very different conception than what most citizens understand about illegality. Rather than imagining themselves as autonomous individuals making a decision to break the law, they, like Rigoberta Menchu, understand their migration as a requirement imposed on them by outsiders, which they have no right or opportunity to question.
The coyotes that offer to take them across the border may be considered smugglers under US law, but to the Mayans Foxen studied, they were no different from the labor contrators who had been forcibly recruiting them--legally--for generations ... 'As did their forefathers centuries ago,' Lutz and Lovell write, 'Guatemalan Mayas continue to migrate in order to survive" (68).
"Foxen also notes a 'total confusion surrounding understandings about the legality and illegality of different types of documentation' that stems from the population's long history of the law being used against them. Some of her informants had paid hundreds of dollars to a notario for a temporary work permit. These notarios often had no legal credentials, but played on a semantic confusion, since in Latin American the term often refers to a lawyer. The notarios would file a fraudulent asylum application, which would nonetheless entite the migrant to a temporary, legal work permit, until their asylum hearing, which would generally result in deportation" (68-69).
"The complexity of the H-2 program and the gap between the overwhelming demand on both sides and the small number of visas actually available make the program ripe for fraud and exploitation. 'Illegality' enters the system in numerous ways, as uncovered by a 2010 United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. In six cases the GAO reviewed, 'employers charged their H-2B workers fees that were for the benefit of the employer or charged excessive fees that brought employees' wages below the hourly federal minimum wage. These charges included visa processing fees far above actual costs, rent in overcrowded apartments that drastically exceeded market value, and transportation charges subject to arbitrary 'late fees.' Workers left the United States in greater debt than when they arrived. in one case, these fees reduced employees' paychecks to as little as $48 for a 2-week period.' In eight cases, 'employers were alleged to have submitted fraudulent documentation to Labor, USCIS, and State to either exploit their H-2B employees or hire more employees than needed. Employers and recruiters misclassified employee duties on Labor certification applications to pay lower prevailing wages; used shell companies to file fraudulent labor certification applications for unneeded employees, then leased the addiction employees to businesses not on the visa petitions; and preferentially hired H-2B employees over American workers in violation of federal law" (75).
"Although illegality resides inherently in the realm of law, it has significant economic implications ... Employers of low-wage labor benefit from the illegal status of some workers, as do consumers of low-cost goods and services. State and local budgets face costs that result from the economic marginalization of the undocumented, while federal programs like Social Security benefit handsomely from payments into the system by undocumented workers who will never be eligible for benefits.
Illegality also has significant benefits for the prison system, in particular, the new and mushrooming private prison system. Immigration enforcement creates jobs in the prison industry, which in 2011 employed eight hundred thousand people and cost some $75 billion a year.
But beyond the economic costs and benefits to different sectors of society, there are other, intangible benefits. Politicians and talk-show hosts have zeroes in on the issue to whip up audiences and support. Anti-immigrant sentiment and, especially, the demonization of the undocumented can bring votes and attention.
When Leo Chavez calls the 'Latino threat narrative' overlaps with anti-undocumented sentiment, as 'Mexican immigration, the Mexican-origin population, and Latin American immigration in general [came] to be perceived as a national security threat' in the 1990s. The threat narrative, Chavez explains, has been expressed so repeatedly that its components have become culturally accepted. Mexican immigrants are 'illegal aliens' or criminals, the narrative suggests. They want to create a 'Quebec' (i.e.,a culturally and linguistically distinct region), invade the country, and reconquer the Southwest. They refuse to learn English or assimilate, procreate too rapidly, and threaten nation security.
In addition to attracting votes or increasing ratings, the Latino threat narrative services the more subtle purpose of channeling national anxieties about social inequality; environmental crisis; economic downturn; lack of access to jobs, housing, health care, and education; deteriorating social services; and other real issues facing the US population away from their real causes. Those who benefit from the status quo would rather have people blame immigrants than fight for real social and economic change" (101-102).
"A new twist in the system emerged at the border in 2005 with Operation Streamline ... which takes migrants caught at the border out of the civil immigration system and lodges criminal border-crossing charges against them. After a criminal conviction, they are generally sentenced to time served and returned to ICE for civil removal procedures. The program has been expanded along the border, so that by 2012 every border sector participated, with some referring all of those apprehended for criminal prosecution. Tens of thousands of migrants who would have been returned to Mexico are now instead detained, tried, and incarcerated at government expense" (104).
"If undocumented Mexican labor was so necessary, why make it illegal? But IRCA made it illegal with a large wink. Employers were required to obtain proof of eligibility to work from new hires, but they were not required to evaluate the documents they were shown. They could be punished for knowingly hiring undocumented workers, but usually only received a small fine. IRCA, it turned out, was more for show than for changing the country's labor structure. It was a bumbling intervention that succeeded in making migrant workers more vulnerable, while actually contributing to increasing the numbers of the undocumented"(114).
"As president, Obama pursued a policy during his first term that some have termed 'silent raids.' Instead of descending on the workplace and making arrests, the new policy used audits. ICE would require a business to turn over employment eligibility forms for all its workers. 'Since Jan. 2009, the Wall Street Journal reported in May 2012, 'the Obama administration has audited as least 7,533 employers suspected of hiring illegal labor and imposed about $100 million in administrative and criminal fines--more audits and penalties than were imposed during the entire GWB administration." With the audits, workers are not deported. But they do lose their jobs" (117).
"Given the way the agricultural system currently works, farm labor is so precarious and so harsh that only displaced migrants, the majority of them rendered illegal by US laws, are willing and able to carry it out. Paradoxically, most of these migrants were in fact displaced from centuries-old systems of subsistence agriculture in Mexico by precisely the same agricultural modernization that now demands their labor elsewhere. A truly comprehensive approach to immigration reform would look at these interlocking economic and structural systems, not merely make more narrow changes in immigration law.
We must recognize the basic irrationality, immorality, and unsustainability of the food production system. Farmers overwhelmingly oppose the harsh state-level immigration laws that make it more difficult for them to find the seasonal workers they need. In the short term, simply making it legal for immigrants to work in agriculture would address the needs of both farmers and immigrant farm workers who are undocumented. The larger problems await a longer-term and more profound reform for the global agricultural system. We can begin by acknowledging that our access to relatively cheap and abundant food in the US exists because of the hard labor poor Mexicans, in their country and in our own" (129).
To be continued...
"
"Was it a paradox that the Border Patrol was created in the 1920s, just when agribusiness, with its need for migrant labor, was rapidly expanding in the Southwest? Several scholars argue that in fact the system worked well for farmers who needed migrant workers. Mexican workers could still cross the border easily, but because they became more deportable, the new laws also made them more exploitable. 'Agribusiness kicked, winked, screamed, lobbied, and cajoled for border patrol practices that allowed unrestricted access to Mexican workers while promoting effective discipline over the region's Mexican workforce.' Deportability was part of that discipline. Local officials served farmers' interests by carrying out deportation raids in cases of union organizing or, sometimes, just before payday" (54).
"Mexican workers' theoretical deportability became real in 1929, as the country entered the Great Depression. On the pretext that they were like to 'become a public charge' as employment opportunities evaporated, both Mexicans and Mexican Americans were rounded up for deportation. A 'frenzy of anti-Mexican hysteria' justified roundups of entire Mexican neighborhoods and hundreds of thousands were deported with little attention to legal niceties" (55).
"[T]he Eisenhower administration initiated Operation Wetback, a massive, military-style sweep of Mexican and Mexican American neighborhoods aimed at deporting en masse those deemed to be in the country 'illegally.' Over a million were deported. Like the deportations of the 1930s, Operation Wetback snared many individuals, including US citizens, simply for being ethnically Mexican" (58).
"The 1986 law also for the first time made it illegal to employ a worker without proper documents. Employer sanctions created an enormous and costly illegal infrastructure that migrants had to navigate to obtain false documents in order to work, but did little to reduce the numbers of undocumented workers. Moreover, the law left employers virtually immune to prosecution, and with even greater ability to exploit their now more legally vulnerable workers" (62).
"Among the undocumented Mayans of Providence, Rhode Island, Patricia Foxen found a very different conception than what most citizens understand about illegality. Rather than imagining themselves as autonomous individuals making a decision to break the law, they, like Rigoberta Menchu, understand their migration as a requirement imposed on them by outsiders, which they have no right or opportunity to question.
The coyotes that offer to take them across the border may be considered smugglers under US law, but to the Mayans Foxen studied, they were no different from the labor contrators who had been forcibly recruiting them--legally--for generations ... 'As did their forefathers centuries ago,' Lutz and Lovell write, 'Guatemalan Mayas continue to migrate in order to survive" (68).
"Foxen also notes a 'total confusion surrounding understandings about the legality and illegality of different types of documentation' that stems from the population's long history of the law being used against them. Some of her informants had paid hundreds of dollars to a notario for a temporary work permit. These notarios often had no legal credentials, but played on a semantic confusion, since in Latin American the term often refers to a lawyer. The notarios would file a fraudulent asylum application, which would nonetheless entite the migrant to a temporary, legal work permit, until their asylum hearing, which would generally result in deportation" (68-69).
"The complexity of the H-2 program and the gap between the overwhelming demand on both sides and the small number of visas actually available make the program ripe for fraud and exploitation. 'Illegality' enters the system in numerous ways, as uncovered by a 2010 United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. In six cases the GAO reviewed, 'employers charged their H-2B workers fees that were for the benefit of the employer or charged excessive fees that brought employees' wages below the hourly federal minimum wage. These charges included visa processing fees far above actual costs, rent in overcrowded apartments that drastically exceeded market value, and transportation charges subject to arbitrary 'late fees.' Workers left the United States in greater debt than when they arrived. in one case, these fees reduced employees' paychecks to as little as $48 for a 2-week period.' In eight cases, 'employers were alleged to have submitted fraudulent documentation to Labor, USCIS, and State to either exploit their H-2B employees or hire more employees than needed. Employers and recruiters misclassified employee duties on Labor certification applications to pay lower prevailing wages; used shell companies to file fraudulent labor certification applications for unneeded employees, then leased the addiction employees to businesses not on the visa petitions; and preferentially hired H-2B employees over American workers in violation of federal law" (75).
"Although illegality resides inherently in the realm of law, it has significant economic implications ... Employers of low-wage labor benefit from the illegal status of some workers, as do consumers of low-cost goods and services. State and local budgets face costs that result from the economic marginalization of the undocumented, while federal programs like Social Security benefit handsomely from payments into the system by undocumented workers who will never be eligible for benefits.
Illegality also has significant benefits for the prison system, in particular, the new and mushrooming private prison system. Immigration enforcement creates jobs in the prison industry, which in 2011 employed eight hundred thousand people and cost some $75 billion a year.
But beyond the economic costs and benefits to different sectors of society, there are other, intangible benefits. Politicians and talk-show hosts have zeroes in on the issue to whip up audiences and support. Anti-immigrant sentiment and, especially, the demonization of the undocumented can bring votes and attention.
When Leo Chavez calls the 'Latino threat narrative' overlaps with anti-undocumented sentiment, as 'Mexican immigration, the Mexican-origin population, and Latin American immigration in general [came] to be perceived as a national security threat' in the 1990s. The threat narrative, Chavez explains, has been expressed so repeatedly that its components have become culturally accepted. Mexican immigrants are 'illegal aliens' or criminals, the narrative suggests. They want to create a 'Quebec' (i.e.,a culturally and linguistically distinct region), invade the country, and reconquer the Southwest. They refuse to learn English or assimilate, procreate too rapidly, and threaten nation security.
In addition to attracting votes or increasing ratings, the Latino threat narrative services the more subtle purpose of channeling national anxieties about social inequality; environmental crisis; economic downturn; lack of access to jobs, housing, health care, and education; deteriorating social services; and other real issues facing the US population away from their real causes. Those who benefit from the status quo would rather have people blame immigrants than fight for real social and economic change" (101-102).
"A new twist in the system emerged at the border in 2005 with Operation Streamline ... which takes migrants caught at the border out of the civil immigration system and lodges criminal border-crossing charges against them. After a criminal conviction, they are generally sentenced to time served and returned to ICE for civil removal procedures. The program has been expanded along the border, so that by 2012 every border sector participated, with some referring all of those apprehended for criminal prosecution. Tens of thousands of migrants who would have been returned to Mexico are now instead detained, tried, and incarcerated at government expense" (104).
"If undocumented Mexican labor was so necessary, why make it illegal? But IRCA made it illegal with a large wink. Employers were required to obtain proof of eligibility to work from new hires, but they were not required to evaluate the documents they were shown. They could be punished for knowingly hiring undocumented workers, but usually only received a small fine. IRCA, it turned out, was more for show than for changing the country's labor structure. It was a bumbling intervention that succeeded in making migrant workers more vulnerable, while actually contributing to increasing the numbers of the undocumented"(114).
"As president, Obama pursued a policy during his first term that some have termed 'silent raids.' Instead of descending on the workplace and making arrests, the new policy used audits. ICE would require a business to turn over employment eligibility forms for all its workers. 'Since Jan. 2009, the Wall Street Journal reported in May 2012, 'the Obama administration has audited as least 7,533 employers suspected of hiring illegal labor and imposed about $100 million in administrative and criminal fines--more audits and penalties than were imposed during the entire GWB administration." With the audits, workers are not deported. But they do lose their jobs" (117).
"Given the way the agricultural system currently works, farm labor is so precarious and so harsh that only displaced migrants, the majority of them rendered illegal by US laws, are willing and able to carry it out. Paradoxically, most of these migrants were in fact displaced from centuries-old systems of subsistence agriculture in Mexico by precisely the same agricultural modernization that now demands their labor elsewhere. A truly comprehensive approach to immigration reform would look at these interlocking economic and structural systems, not merely make more narrow changes in immigration law.
We must recognize the basic irrationality, immorality, and unsustainability of the food production system. Farmers overwhelmingly oppose the harsh state-level immigration laws that make it more difficult for them to find the seasonal workers they need. In the short term, simply making it legal for immigrants to work in agriculture would address the needs of both farmers and immigrant farm workers who are undocumented. The larger problems await a longer-term and more profound reform for the global agricultural system. We can begin by acknowledging that our access to relatively cheap and abundant food in the US exists because of the hard labor poor Mexicans, in their country and in our own" (129).
To be continued...
"
June 19, 2014
I really like the way Chomsky discusses the issue of immigration. A lot of other books I've read don't examine the immigration system in a historical context (this is so important to talk about), which is something Chomsky strives to do in this book. Immigration in the United States has been racialized since the beginning and she effectively examines that aspect of immigration. She compares the racialization of immigration to mass incarceration as discussed by Michelle Alexander, which really helped get her arguments across.
The thing that distinguishes this book for me was the fact that she challenges the concepts of illegality and legality and how that effects our immigration system. In closing she states "illegal immigration exists because we make immigration illegal."
Lastly, she discusses the role the United States' economic imperialism and intervention in foreign affairs that have contributed to the rise in immigration in many Latin American countries. Although, I don't think she was thorough enough with this part. I would have liked to hear more about NAFTA and its affects on Mexico and the indigenous communities since they are one of the largest sectors to emigrate from Mexico. She mentions some that the United States has overthrown Latin American governments that aimed to take control of its economy, but nothing specific.
Basically, Chomsky discussed immigration in terms that are more effective in making radical changes in our immigration system and I love this book and it's wonderful.
The thing that distinguishes this book for me was the fact that she challenges the concepts of illegality and legality and how that effects our immigration system. In closing she states "illegal immigration exists because we make immigration illegal."
Lastly, she discusses the role the United States' economic imperialism and intervention in foreign affairs that have contributed to the rise in immigration in many Latin American countries. Although, I don't think she was thorough enough with this part. I would have liked to hear more about NAFTA and its affects on Mexico and the indigenous communities since they are one of the largest sectors to emigrate from Mexico. She mentions some that the United States has overthrown Latin American governments that aimed to take control of its economy, but nothing specific.
Basically, Chomsky discussed immigration in terms that are more effective in making radical changes in our immigration system and I love this book and it's wonderful.
Read
August 19, 2022This book does a really nice job tackling the issue of immigration and putting it in a historical context and displays a lot of the implications of government policies and laws. An excellent overview for anyone wanting to understand the issue of immigration better and to understand the humanitarian issues at stake under our current system.
August 18, 2021
Undocumented: How Immigration Became Illegal
Aviva Chomsky (Noam's daughter) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviva...
2014
246pp.
ISBN 9780807001677
Dewey 364.1370973
The generally unacknowledged work they do is a crucial underpinning to the standard of living and consumption enjoyed by virtually everyone in the United States. p. 149. The legal conveniences of borders, countries, and citizenship maintain a legally excluded working class. Undocumentedness perpetuates inequality. And greatly enriches a few. pp. 151, 208.
Turns out, exploiting the workers is really profitable. Denying legal status makes them even more exploitable, even lower-paid. And puts downward pressure on all workers' wages, working conditions, and rights. Agribusiness is profitable /because/ it destroys lives. p. 122.
Farm labor is so marginal, strenuous, and low paid, that if workers achieve legal status, they quickly move into other sectors. p. 127. In Mexico, $4 per day was the wage in 2009. So, much of our food is imported. p. 125.
Meatpacking, construction, restaurant work, domestic work, landscaping, newspaper delivery have likewise come to rely on workers without citizenship rights. Wages in meatpacking fell 45% between 1980 and 2007. p.134. Ridding the Postville, Iowa kosher meatpacking plant of unauthorized Guatemalans, resulted in closed businesses. Even 4 years later, retail sales in Postville are 40% lower than in 2008. p. 140. Expelling workers harms everyone. p. 141. Immigrants, authorized or not, create jobs. p. 149. Were they to gain legal status, they would create more jobs. p. 150. Prince William County, Virginia, in 2007 required police to stop and question anyone they suspected of being undocumented. With its attendant anti-immigrant hatred, immigrants left. Businesses closed, schools & neighborhoods emptied, the housing market collapsed. p. 150. Granting legal status to only /some/ immigrants invites even more pernicious racism against those left out. p. 190.
By 1976, a cap of 20,000 legal Mexican immigrant visas a year was enforced. p. 184.
"Dumping" of U.S.-Government-subsidized agricultural products destroyed farm incomes in Latin America and elsewhere. U.S.-Government-backed right-wing dictatorships repressed Latin American people. p. 186.
Just as this new generation of undocumented youth was finishing high school, Clinton's 1996 Welfare Reform Act and Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act made it almost impossible for them to go to college. pp. 167, 193. Obama set new records of people deported per year, and stopped talking about a "path to citizenship." pp. 202-203.
Power concedes nothing without a demand. --Frederick Douglass. p. 208.
"the majestic equality of the laws, which forbid rich and poor alike to sleep under the bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal their bread." --Anatole France, 1894. p. 24
"Concessions obtained by financiers must be safeguarded by ministers of state, even if the sovereignty of unwilling nations be outraged in the process." --Woodrow Wilson, 1907 (then president of Princeton University). p. 28
Aviva Chomsky (Noam's daughter) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviva...
2014
246pp.
ISBN 9780807001677
Dewey 364.1370973
The generally unacknowledged work they do is a crucial underpinning to the standard of living and consumption enjoyed by virtually everyone in the United States. p. 149. The legal conveniences of borders, countries, and citizenship maintain a legally excluded working class. Undocumentedness perpetuates inequality. And greatly enriches a few. pp. 151, 208.
Turns out, exploiting the workers is really profitable. Denying legal status makes them even more exploitable, even lower-paid. And puts downward pressure on all workers' wages, working conditions, and rights. Agribusiness is profitable /because/ it destroys lives. p. 122.
Farm labor is so marginal, strenuous, and low paid, that if workers achieve legal status, they quickly move into other sectors. p. 127. In Mexico, $4 per day was the wage in 2009. So, much of our food is imported. p. 125.
Meatpacking, construction, restaurant work, domestic work, landscaping, newspaper delivery have likewise come to rely on workers without citizenship rights. Wages in meatpacking fell 45% between 1980 and 2007. p.134. Ridding the Postville, Iowa kosher meatpacking plant of unauthorized Guatemalans, resulted in closed businesses. Even 4 years later, retail sales in Postville are 40% lower than in 2008. p. 140. Expelling workers harms everyone. p. 141. Immigrants, authorized or not, create jobs. p. 149. Were they to gain legal status, they would create more jobs. p. 150. Prince William County, Virginia, in 2007 required police to stop and question anyone they suspected of being undocumented. With its attendant anti-immigrant hatred, immigrants left. Businesses closed, schools & neighborhoods emptied, the housing market collapsed. p. 150. Granting legal status to only /some/ immigrants invites even more pernicious racism against those left out. p. 190.
By 1976, a cap of 20,000 legal Mexican immigrant visas a year was enforced. p. 184.
"Dumping" of U.S.-Government-subsidized agricultural products destroyed farm incomes in Latin America and elsewhere. U.S.-Government-backed right-wing dictatorships repressed Latin American people. p. 186.
Just as this new generation of undocumented youth was finishing high school, Clinton's 1996 Welfare Reform Act and Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act made it almost impossible for them to go to college. pp. 167, 193. Obama set new records of people deported per year, and stopped talking about a "path to citizenship." pp. 202-203.
Power concedes nothing without a demand. --Frederick Douglass. p. 208.
"the majestic equality of the laws, which forbid rich and poor alike to sleep under the bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal their bread." --Anatole France, 1894. p. 24
"Concessions obtained by financiers must be safeguarded by ministers of state, even if the sovereignty of unwilling nations be outraged in the process." --Woodrow Wilson, 1907 (then president of Princeton University). p. 28
January 4, 2015
I admit that I have not read a lot from Noam Chomsky, but there is something so great about seeing the daughter of intelligent, liberal parents not rebel by being a neo-conservative. I guess that reveals some of my unaddressed fears in parenting.
April 10, 2025
“They were repeatedly told that this is a nation of immigrants. A country where everyone is treated equally.
They were taught that they have rights because thats what the schools teach in this country”
Migrant Mexican workers were needed to build our railroads and then were deported back during the Great Depression for fear of taking jobs when they were scarce. The mentality of ‘job stealing’ from immigrants stems from this time period but ironically, migrant Mexican workers were brought in BECAUSE of labor shortages. Americans didn’t want to do that type of work or the agriculture work many South and Central Americans were doing.
For those who don’t have time to read this book, check out the short videos on YouTube about The Bracero Program. Also the economic breakdowns of legalization for immigrants in this book are interesting as well.
They were taught that they have rights because thats what the schools teach in this country”
Migrant Mexican workers were needed to build our railroads and then were deported back during the Great Depression for fear of taking jobs when they were scarce. The mentality of ‘job stealing’ from immigrants stems from this time period but ironically, migrant Mexican workers were brought in BECAUSE of labor shortages. Americans didn’t want to do that type of work or the agriculture work many South and Central Americans were doing.
For those who don’t have time to read this book, check out the short videos on YouTube about The Bracero Program. Also the economic breakdowns of legalization for immigrants in this book are interesting as well.
October 15, 2016
I learned so much from this book! I read a good part of it while on a road trip. I kept having the husband turn down the music as I read him sections. I had no idea how convoluted our current immigration process is, nor how historical immigration has shaped not only those policies, but also the modern immigration patterns. Living on the border with Mexico, I feel I better understand my neighbors and the political concerns of my region. This book also touched on the private prison sector, which was eye opening as well. I think what struck me most was that the whole criminalization of immigration is there to control the movement of people and the thinking that some people have a right to move about as they please where others do not. I could not imagine not being able to just grab my passport and pretty much go wherever my wallet will take me. I love traveling and can't imagine being told , "No, you can't go there." I have changed my vote for the upcoming Presidential race, because of what I learned here. That is how deeply it effected me. I recommend it for all human beings.
April 30, 2018
This is a good primer on how the USA is (SURPRISE!) being unjust, irrational, and all-around ridiculous when it comes to enforcing and creating immigration laws. It also does a good job of thoroughly questioning the logicality or purpose of borders to begin with. The downside is that it's about as dry as it is informative; it reads a bit like a long Wikipedia entry on the subject. Regardless, still lots of good information to glean about the history and manifold issues that have resulted from America's increasingly harsh stance on undocumented immigrants. Immigration has never been a focal point for me in my reading of the news, books, etc. but I'm thankful this book raised my awareness of just how cruel and draconian so much of US policy is on the matter and has been for a long time. It really is a civil rights battle for a time and I hope to live to see a day where undocumented people are treated with the basic human decency they deserve.
October 24, 2014
Through obviously tireless research, Aviva has opened my eyes to how ignorant I was about immigration. Very sobering.This book makes the process of getting into the United States appear like an onion. It is multi-layered with so many different agendas, that as you peel back each layer, the more it smells. Then, somewhere along the way, you will cry for those who are caught up in this. There is a quote from the book that asks " Do you know of any historical example where society change has come about by people keeping quiet?" Aviva's writings show that she is not about to keep quiet. This book deserves to win prizes for its fortitude as well as its straight forward reporting. This should be read by anyone who is on the fence about immigration, or actually wants to seal up the border. You will think differently after.
February 5, 2016
"A faculty member worried that if we raised the issue publicly, it would imperil our undocumented students. Another retorted: 'Do you know of any historical example where social change has come about by people keeping quiet?' p. 207
---
Chomsky's approach here to the production of unauthorized immigrant illegality in the US context achieves that rare quality of being both a reasonably comprehensive as well as accessible text, suitable for introducing the topic to undergrad students and the public at large. In imagining a curriculum focused on critical analysis of immigration policies in the US, Chomsky's book would serve as the perfect precursor to more theoretically intensive readings such as those of De Genova.
---
Chomsky's approach here to the production of unauthorized immigrant illegality in the US context achieves that rare quality of being both a reasonably comprehensive as well as accessible text, suitable for introducing the topic to undergrad students and the public at large. In imagining a curriculum focused on critical analysis of immigration policies in the US, Chomsky's book would serve as the perfect precursor to more theoretically intensive readings such as those of De Genova.
February 9, 2025
When my ancestors came to this country, they didn't have to follow any sort of process to be considered "legal" once they arrived. They simply paid for passage on a ship (or more likely, took out a loan, which they then paid back with their labor), and came. Once here, they committed genocide against the indigenous inhabitants and took their land.
The idea of "illegality" in regards to immigration was invented to enforce racial hierarchies and to ensure a readily available supply of cheap, easily exploitable labor. This book describes how that process took place, and some of its consequences for immigrants and the country as a whole.
I think everyone needs to read this book, given the current political climate. The style gets pretty academic at times, but not to the point where it makes the book unreadable.
The idea of "illegality" in regards to immigration was invented to enforce racial hierarchies and to ensure a readily available supply of cheap, easily exploitable labor. This book describes how that process took place, and some of its consequences for immigrants and the country as a whole.
I think everyone needs to read this book, given the current political climate. The style gets pretty academic at times, but not to the point where it makes the book unreadable.
November 26, 2019
An extremely in-depth look at the historical and modern state of immigration in the United States. I heavy emphasis on facts and policies, with a small inclusion of anecdotes to emphasize the emotional, human aspects of this critical topic.
October 6, 2017
How Immigration Became Illegal Aviva Chomsky
Chomsky traces the history of the idea of "illegality" in the US, explaining that "we as a society created illegal immigration by making immigration illegal." Prior to 1965, the media did not generally portray immigration in negative terms. By the 1970s tthe demonization of immigrants- particularly Mexican and other Latino immigrants had become a hot button issue. How did this happen?
Migration Today
Currently, Mexican and Central American immigrants make up the largest populations of undocumented people in the US. Half of the undocumented population in America enters the country "illegally" (by evading ICE and Border Patrol or by using falsified documents to pass through the border), whether they know this or, as for many of the immigrants, they don't know that they are breaking law. The other half of the undocumented population entered with inspection (a visa or some sort of Crossing Card) and then overstayed their allotted time in the US.
"People don't apply for citizenship or don't obtain proper documents to come here, because the law forbids it... US immigration law is based on a system of quotas and preferences. If you don't happen to be one of the lucky few who falls into a quota or preference category, there is basically no way to obtain legal permission to immigrate. If you are already in the United States without proper documentation, you will never, ever be allowed to apply for citizenship."
Undocumented people make up about five percent of the American workforce, almost always doing jobs that Americans themselves would rather not do: agricultural, factory and service jobs.
"Illegality is a way to enforce a dual labor market and keep some labor cheap, in a supposedly postracial era. Illegality uses lack of citizenship- that is, being born in the wrong place- to make workers more exploitable."
History of Immigration to US
"Europeans, apparently, belonged everywhere. Christians needed to spread their religion to heathens, European governments needed to expand their realms and bestow the benefits of their government to others, and settlers needed to fulfill their pioneering spirit and manifest destiny by applying their will and their capital to new lands and peoples," Chomksy writes.
Before civil war, only white people could be citizens. With the end of the war, the country sought to give status to African Americans. In 1882 the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed, to limit Chinese immigration to America. With less Chinese immigrants, farmers in California in particular relied heavily on migrant farmworkers from Mexico. From 1924-1965 the Mexican-US border was opened up and basically unpoliced as Mexicans came to work in the US.
From 1940-the 1960s there was a special program for migrant workers to come to the US called the Bracero Program, which brought over 4 million workers and was finally ended after civil rights organizing around discriminatory treatment of these guest workers. While there were two major wavevs of deportation (in the '30s and '50s) being undocumented as we know it today was not used as a reason for deportation, but rather racial justification was used as a reason for legal discrimination against Mexican and other Latinx workers. However, with the civil rights movement of the 60s, racial discrimination was made illegal and there became the reliance on "legal v. illegal" as a means to discriminate and maintain the status quo.
In 1965, with the end of the Bracero Program, racial quotas for immigration were ended, and instead immigration quotas to US were given to all countries in the world. From 1965 on, new law made it harder and harder to become a "legal" American. In 2001 the USA-PATRIOT Act was passed, making it possible to deport any non-citizen. Chomsky writes that current immigrant policy is legalized discrimination against black and brown people, similar to write Michelle Alexander writes about in the New Jim Crow (read my book review here) pertaining specifically to African American people. By 2011, the overall increase of federal prosecutions of immigration violations had turned it into the top federal crime by 2011. Immigration is a highly racialized crime that the private prison system mightily profits off of and continued to promote with its multi-million dollar lobbying industry.
So why do people make the journey to work and live in the US? Chomsky writes:
"It is not pure coincidence that poor and violent countries in Latin America coexist alongside the over consuming United States. Deliberate US policies, from invasions and occupations to military aid to loans and investments, have created the Latin American politics and economies and the disparities that are now the roots of today's migrations. Attempts to seal the border only reinforce the very inequalities that contribute to migration."
Chomsky traces the history of the idea of "illegality" in the US, explaining that "we as a society created illegal immigration by making immigration illegal." Prior to 1965, the media did not generally portray immigration in negative terms. By the 1970s tthe demonization of immigrants- particularly Mexican and other Latino immigrants had become a hot button issue. How did this happen?
Migration Today
Currently, Mexican and Central American immigrants make up the largest populations of undocumented people in the US. Half of the undocumented population in America enters the country "illegally" (by evading ICE and Border Patrol or by using falsified documents to pass through the border), whether they know this or, as for many of the immigrants, they don't know that they are breaking law. The other half of the undocumented population entered with inspection (a visa or some sort of Crossing Card) and then overstayed their allotted time in the US.
"People don't apply for citizenship or don't obtain proper documents to come here, because the law forbids it... US immigration law is based on a system of quotas and preferences. If you don't happen to be one of the lucky few who falls into a quota or preference category, there is basically no way to obtain legal permission to immigrate. If you are already in the United States without proper documentation, you will never, ever be allowed to apply for citizenship."
Undocumented people make up about five percent of the American workforce, almost always doing jobs that Americans themselves would rather not do: agricultural, factory and service jobs.
"Illegality is a way to enforce a dual labor market and keep some labor cheap, in a supposedly postracial era. Illegality uses lack of citizenship- that is, being born in the wrong place- to make workers more exploitable."
History of Immigration to US
"Europeans, apparently, belonged everywhere. Christians needed to spread their religion to heathens, European governments needed to expand their realms and bestow the benefits of their government to others, and settlers needed to fulfill their pioneering spirit and manifest destiny by applying their will and their capital to new lands and peoples," Chomksy writes.
Before civil war, only white people could be citizens. With the end of the war, the country sought to give status to African Americans. In 1882 the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed, to limit Chinese immigration to America. With less Chinese immigrants, farmers in California in particular relied heavily on migrant farmworkers from Mexico. From 1924-1965 the Mexican-US border was opened up and basically unpoliced as Mexicans came to work in the US.
From 1940-the 1960s there was a special program for migrant workers to come to the US called the Bracero Program, which brought over 4 million workers and was finally ended after civil rights organizing around discriminatory treatment of these guest workers. While there were two major wavevs of deportation (in the '30s and '50s) being undocumented as we know it today was not used as a reason for deportation, but rather racial justification was used as a reason for legal discrimination against Mexican and other Latinx workers. However, with the civil rights movement of the 60s, racial discrimination was made illegal and there became the reliance on "legal v. illegal" as a means to discriminate and maintain the status quo.
In 1965, with the end of the Bracero Program, racial quotas for immigration were ended, and instead immigration quotas to US were given to all countries in the world. From 1965 on, new law made it harder and harder to become a "legal" American. In 2001 the USA-PATRIOT Act was passed, making it possible to deport any non-citizen. Chomsky writes that current immigrant policy is legalized discrimination against black and brown people, similar to write Michelle Alexander writes about in the New Jim Crow (read my book review here) pertaining specifically to African American people. By 2011, the overall increase of federal prosecutions of immigration violations had turned it into the top federal crime by 2011. Immigration is a highly racialized crime that the private prison system mightily profits off of and continued to promote with its multi-million dollar lobbying industry.
So why do people make the journey to work and live in the US? Chomsky writes:
"It is not pure coincidence that poor and violent countries in Latin America coexist alongside the over consuming United States. Deliberate US policies, from invasions and occupations to military aid to loans and investments, have created the Latin American politics and economies and the disparities that are now the roots of today's migrations. Attempts to seal the border only reinforce the very inequalities that contribute to migration."
May 5, 2014
**I received a copy of this book through Goodreads giveaway.**
I'm always interested in immigration issues and was excited to receive a copy of this book. When I noted that the author was a daughter of the famed linguist and activist Noam Chomsky, I wondered what I was going to get. What I got was a well-reasoned, well-written investigation into the history of Latin American immigration and how it became "illegal." I don't always follow Chomsky's economic reasoning throughout this book (I happen to be pro-market, and came to my immigration views through libertarian/human rights perspective) but found this concise book does an excellent job of discussing the structure of immigration into America throughout the 20th century and how we came to see ourselves as besieged by millions of hostile tomato-pickers who want to ruin our lives. :-)
Chomsky does an excellent job of discussing why the "But they broke the law; my ancestors didn't break the law" argument is total nonsense. We MADE the laws this way, ignoring economic reality and human rights as we did; we ourselves created the situation that we have. My last ancestor to arrive in the US came in 1849; when my ancestors arrived, if you had the gumption and determination to get yourself to an American port, and didn't have something seriously and obviously wrong with you, you got to stay---and the free influx of immigrants helped create the economic miracle that was the United States in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. When we decided to cut off or severely limit immigration, we shut off the legal valves which both made our own economy fast-growing and gave others hope of a better life.
I found myself enlightened by Chomsky's discussion of race and how it has affected our views of immigrants---people from Europe, white people, were "immigrants" and Mexicans were invisible, disposable workers. When we suddenly made them potential "immigrants" too, we changed the whole game, especially when we insisted on keeping the numbers ridiculously low, thereby ignoring the industries that need inexpensive labor and the people who have the drive to improve their families' lives.
Chomsky mentions but does not spend a great deal of time on the idea of movement as a human right. Americans would simply not tolerate a government that told them which state they could live in; why we seem to think that everyone else can with conscience be told they do not have freedom of movement is beyond me. I would have liked to have seen more discussion of this, but it seems to be a very unpopular and "radical" idea for many Americans. One other point is that Chomsky spends a lot of time on organizations of immigrants and Hispanics that work on immigration justice and human rights, but only mentions the Catholic church in passing, although in my area they are a major force in this area (no, I'm not myself Catholic, just have noted the strength of their defense of human rights in this area.)
I think the weakest part of the book was the final chapter on solutions. A better blueprint for fixing our mess would be found at Cato's immigration website; the work of Daniel Griswold being especially pertinent here. The book was however greatly strengthened by the personal examples and clear thinking used by Chomsky throughout. I am especially glad to have a good book to recommend to my friends that is more than just a "no, the immigrants are not going to take your job and leave you destitute in the street" book, although I see the author has also written one of those. A book like this focusing on the history and the injustice of our immigration system is much needed and this is a valuable contribution. I would recommend this to any thinking person who wanted to learn more about why we have the immigration system we have.
I'm always interested in immigration issues and was excited to receive a copy of this book. When I noted that the author was a daughter of the famed linguist and activist Noam Chomsky, I wondered what I was going to get. What I got was a well-reasoned, well-written investigation into the history of Latin American immigration and how it became "illegal." I don't always follow Chomsky's economic reasoning throughout this book (I happen to be pro-market, and came to my immigration views through libertarian/human rights perspective) but found this concise book does an excellent job of discussing the structure of immigration into America throughout the 20th century and how we came to see ourselves as besieged by millions of hostile tomato-pickers who want to ruin our lives. :-)
Chomsky does an excellent job of discussing why the "But they broke the law; my ancestors didn't break the law" argument is total nonsense. We MADE the laws this way, ignoring economic reality and human rights as we did; we ourselves created the situation that we have. My last ancestor to arrive in the US came in 1849; when my ancestors arrived, if you had the gumption and determination to get yourself to an American port, and didn't have something seriously and obviously wrong with you, you got to stay---and the free influx of immigrants helped create the economic miracle that was the United States in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. When we decided to cut off or severely limit immigration, we shut off the legal valves which both made our own economy fast-growing and gave others hope of a better life.
I found myself enlightened by Chomsky's discussion of race and how it has affected our views of immigrants---people from Europe, white people, were "immigrants" and Mexicans were invisible, disposable workers. When we suddenly made them potential "immigrants" too, we changed the whole game, especially when we insisted on keeping the numbers ridiculously low, thereby ignoring the industries that need inexpensive labor and the people who have the drive to improve their families' lives.
Chomsky mentions but does not spend a great deal of time on the idea of movement as a human right. Americans would simply not tolerate a government that told them which state they could live in; why we seem to think that everyone else can with conscience be told they do not have freedom of movement is beyond me. I would have liked to have seen more discussion of this, but it seems to be a very unpopular and "radical" idea for many Americans. One other point is that Chomsky spends a lot of time on organizations of immigrants and Hispanics that work on immigration justice and human rights, but only mentions the Catholic church in passing, although in my area they are a major force in this area (no, I'm not myself Catholic, just have noted the strength of their defense of human rights in this area.)
I think the weakest part of the book was the final chapter on solutions. A better blueprint for fixing our mess would be found at Cato's immigration website; the work of Daniel Griswold being especially pertinent here. The book was however greatly strengthened by the personal examples and clear thinking used by Chomsky throughout. I am especially glad to have a good book to recommend to my friends that is more than just a "no, the immigrants are not going to take your job and leave you destitute in the street" book, although I see the author has also written one of those. A book like this focusing on the history and the injustice of our immigration system is much needed and this is a valuable contribution. I would recommend this to any thinking person who wanted to learn more about why we have the immigration system we have.
September 17, 2014
This is a brilliant book that lays out the history of immigration in this country, and documents how it has become "illegal" for certain immigrants-specifically those from central and south America- to enter the U.S.
Of course it involves status and race to a large degree. Ms. Chomsky makes an effort to clarify the murky current immigration policies, and blasts many myths held by Americans about immigration.
A few choice examples:
The assumption that if someone comes to live in the US without proper documentation, it must be that they did not follow proper procedure.
Actually there IS NO procedure for them to follow.
For many years the Bracero Program was acknowledged as a legal way for Mexicans to come to the US to perform seasonal labor. In most cases they returned to their country after the work was done. Unfortunately, the tightening of the border created a problem: more and more workers stayed because they were fearful (rightfully so) that they would not gain access to farm labor in the US in the future.
Restricting freedom of movement is a way of enforcing domination and maintaining inequality. (as in apartheid, Palestinians in Gaza.)
In 1965, a new law classified Western hemisphere immigrants (primarily Mexicans) as immigrants for the first time- but without the loopholes and exceptions allowed Europeans.
Sanctions against undocumented workers enable employers to lower wages and working conditions, thus making undocumented immigrants a MORE desirable workforce.
Laws allowing or disallowing entry into the US have always been discriminatory and arbitrary. However,one set of laws for the wealthy allows freedom of travel. Another set for the poor, "creates a labyrinth of enticements and obstacles."
Most "illegals" who work do actually pay taxes, work in low wage and difficult jobs, support their local economy and are law abiding.
The problems this creates for families-separated, incarcerated (for misdemeanors or lack of documentation) and the children brought here at an early age, who cannot get driver's licenses, college loans, etc. is a travesty of justice.
We need to produce some reasonable laws governing immigration that are humane and provide an appropriate pathway to citizenship.
Everyone should read this book- especially those in the southwestern US who seem to use illegals for their own benefit, while decrying their use of resources.
Highly recommended!!!
Of course it involves status and race to a large degree. Ms. Chomsky makes an effort to clarify the murky current immigration policies, and blasts many myths held by Americans about immigration.
A few choice examples:
The assumption that if someone comes to live in the US without proper documentation, it must be that they did not follow proper procedure.
Actually there IS NO procedure for them to follow.
For many years the Bracero Program was acknowledged as a legal way for Mexicans to come to the US to perform seasonal labor. In most cases they returned to their country after the work was done. Unfortunately, the tightening of the border created a problem: more and more workers stayed because they were fearful (rightfully so) that they would not gain access to farm labor in the US in the future.
Restricting freedom of movement is a way of enforcing domination and maintaining inequality. (as in apartheid, Palestinians in Gaza.)
In 1965, a new law classified Western hemisphere immigrants (primarily Mexicans) as immigrants for the first time- but without the loopholes and exceptions allowed Europeans.
Sanctions against undocumented workers enable employers to lower wages and working conditions, thus making undocumented immigrants a MORE desirable workforce.
Laws allowing or disallowing entry into the US have always been discriminatory and arbitrary. However,one set of laws for the wealthy allows freedom of travel. Another set for the poor, "creates a labyrinth of enticements and obstacles."
Most "illegals" who work do actually pay taxes, work in low wage and difficult jobs, support their local economy and are law abiding.
The problems this creates for families-separated, incarcerated (for misdemeanors or lack of documentation) and the children brought here at an early age, who cannot get driver's licenses, college loans, etc. is a travesty of justice.
We need to produce some reasonable laws governing immigration that are humane and provide an appropriate pathway to citizenship.
Everyone should read this book- especially those in the southwestern US who seem to use illegals for their own benefit, while decrying their use of resources.
Highly recommended!!!
March 22, 2016
Oscar pena
Undocumented
Aviva Chomsky
Non fiction
This book is such a great book it has so much information and it is hard to keep up with but it was so good. This book is broken up into sections . First part is “ Where did illegality come from.” Second “ Choosing to become undocumented.” Third “ becoming elligle.” Fourth “ what part of Illegal do you not understand. Fifth “working part1 , working part 2 and two more sections but i did not use them. I mostly used the working part 1 and woking part 2.
The working part 1 and two go on to talk about how the people that were working in factories and working hard in the field were Mexican. The Mexican people produced and help the U.S gain a lot of money and a lot of product. They were basically doing it for free because they were getting paid low wages and not being treated right because they were undocumented. The book tells you how and why immigration became illegal . I got some reference from the book that I am going to use in my paper. It speaks on her point of view of the problem. Witch where why are people so against Mexicans or undocumented people working.This book explains where this problem first started. Most people think it started with the Mexican but it did not. The first settlers were European settlers.
I personally loved this book so so much because it explains so much to me that i did not really know about. I think the target audience for this book is pretty much anyone that can read a big book , and a person that wants to know what and how immigration came to be. This book him home to me because not my parents but people in my family came to the U.S undocumented and it is cool to see everything they had to go through because of how selfish some people can be. One of my favorite lines in the book is this. “Immigrants don't take American jobs! Immigrants do pay taxes ! immigrant are learning English!” (ix) This part really go to me because it is so true immigrants that come to the U.S came here to better their lives and to give their kids better opportunities at life. Immigrants do learn English and get jobs and become successful I know this first hand because I myself learned English and am becoming a really good human. I am not a immigrant but I have people in my family are. I really liked this book I hope I did good on this.
Undocumented
Aviva Chomsky
Non fiction
This book is such a great book it has so much information and it is hard to keep up with but it was so good. This book is broken up into sections . First part is “ Where did illegality come from.” Second “ Choosing to become undocumented.” Third “ becoming elligle.” Fourth “ what part of Illegal do you not understand. Fifth “working part1 , working part 2 and two more sections but i did not use them. I mostly used the working part 1 and woking part 2.
The working part 1 and two go on to talk about how the people that were working in factories and working hard in the field were Mexican. The Mexican people produced and help the U.S gain a lot of money and a lot of product. They were basically doing it for free because they were getting paid low wages and not being treated right because they were undocumented. The book tells you how and why immigration became illegal . I got some reference from the book that I am going to use in my paper. It speaks on her point of view of the problem. Witch where why are people so against Mexicans or undocumented people working.This book explains where this problem first started. Most people think it started with the Mexican but it did not. The first settlers were European settlers.
I personally loved this book so so much because it explains so much to me that i did not really know about. I think the target audience for this book is pretty much anyone that can read a big book , and a person that wants to know what and how immigration came to be. This book him home to me because not my parents but people in my family came to the U.S undocumented and it is cool to see everything they had to go through because of how selfish some people can be. One of my favorite lines in the book is this. “Immigrants don't take American jobs! Immigrants do pay taxes ! immigrant are learning English!” (ix) This part really go to me because it is so true immigrants that come to the U.S came here to better their lives and to give their kids better opportunities at life. Immigrants do learn English and get jobs and become successful I know this first hand because I myself learned English and am becoming a really good human. I am not a immigrant but I have people in my family are. I really liked this book I hope I did good on this.
May 14, 2017
I remember growing up, constantly hearing about the scourge of illegal immigrants and how our great country was being swept away by illegals. Never did I hear an actual reason for why this was the case except for the paradox of "the lazy illegals are stealing our jobs."
This book is an amazing primer for anyone who really wants to understand how this system was created and why it's so convoluted. The "crisis" of illegal immigration is created by the US because of it's history of neoliberal policies and hegemony over the Western hemisphere, and the only viable solution would require the complete reworking if not out right destruction of our current economic structure. To leave you with a quote from the book: "Every so-called industrialized country... relies on the labor of workers who are legally excluded to maintain its high levels of consumption... these countries rely on the legal conveniences of borders, countries, and citizenship to impose different rules for different people and maintain a legally excluded working class."
This book is an amazing primer for anyone who really wants to understand how this system was created and why it's so convoluted. The "crisis" of illegal immigration is created by the US because of it's history of neoliberal policies and hegemony over the Western hemisphere, and the only viable solution would require the complete reworking if not out right destruction of our current economic structure. To leave you with a quote from the book: "Every so-called industrialized country... relies on the labor of workers who are legally excluded to maintain its high levels of consumption... these countries rely on the legal conveniences of borders, countries, and citizenship to impose different rules for different people and maintain a legally excluded working class."
November 15, 2019
The author is Noam Chomsky’s daughter, Aviva. She is a PhD Historian and specializes in Latin American Studies at Salem State University in MA. I his book was published and n 2014 so Trump isn’t mentioned. She discusses how Mexicans and Latinos often had easy access to the USA as cheap labor but often denied rights. The 1965 law that created quotas helped other immigrants but drastically cut the number of Latinos coming here. Essentially making them illegal. The 1986 law to give many citizenship, causes more Latinos to be illegal and made working here illegal. This has snowballed into a serious crisis for Latinos. They are charged with a crime coming here but have to come for work and safety. US policies in Latin America also causes problems. The whole system is unjust to people in need and this was before Trump. Awful.
June 5, 2018
Pretty good. I think this would be very informative for people without much knowledge of immigration history, law, etc. Well written. Maybe the author is interested in writing a new Trump-era edition, as there have been some major changes as of recent. My biggest problem with the book was the overwhelming emphasis on Mexican immigrants. Yes, they are the largest immigrant and undocumented population, but the author's approach could lead uninformed readers to believe that they're the ONLY undocumented population. Legal status is certainly racialized and, to a large extent, biased against those who are non-white, but this isn't just a problem for Mexicans.
May 23, 2017
A good primer on the criminalisation of immigration from Latin America, starting off with the beginnings and detailing recent developments including the mass deportations under President Obama. A must read for everyone wanting a basic overview, for everyone asking "How did America get here?" as well as for everyone insisting that their ancestors "immigrated to this country 'the right way'"
April 10, 2019
This book is really excellent and deserves a wide readership. Chomsky brings together a host of secondary research in a coherent and accessible narrative that would be a great for undergrad teaching in Ethnic Studies or sociology.
October 16, 2025
The historial context on immigration in the US is so important and needed in our education for a fundamental understanding of the issue.
The very bases that our immigration laws currently stand on are the same racist principles imbedded in our amendments such as the 13th “includes an exception that allows involuntary servitude as a punishment for a crime.” Disgusting that private prisons are able to make millions of profit and lobby to pass legislation that hurt and ruin lives of our neighbors, loved ones, and the backbone of our working class.
So much is to be learned from this book in the historical context of the Bracero program to when immigration was first deemed “illegal.”
“We didn't cross the border, the border crossed us" ^in context of Mexican-American war.
"Power concedes nothing without a demand.”
-Fredrick Douglas
But really isn’t it weird to not be allowed somewhere in the world simply because you were born on a different side of a line??? This is a privilege a lot of Americans are naive to, simply because we were lucky to be born on the side that allows us to obtain visas.
The very bases that our immigration laws currently stand on are the same racist principles imbedded in our amendments such as the 13th “includes an exception that allows involuntary servitude as a punishment for a crime.” Disgusting that private prisons are able to make millions of profit and lobby to pass legislation that hurt and ruin lives of our neighbors, loved ones, and the backbone of our working class.
So much is to be learned from this book in the historical context of the Bracero program to when immigration was first deemed “illegal.”
“We didn't cross the border, the border crossed us" ^in context of Mexican-American war.
"Power concedes nothing without a demand.”
-Fredrick Douglas
But really isn’t it weird to not be allowed somewhere in the world simply because you were born on a different side of a line??? This is a privilege a lot of Americans are naive to, simply because we were lucky to be born on the side that allows us to obtain visas.
August 9, 2025
took me a while to finish this book because i was taking notes at the same time, but i just gave up and finished.
a very very well-written introduction to the history of “undocumented” immigration in america, specifically touching on Mexican and Central American migrants. it begins with questioning the very notion of citizenship and establishment of borders (it has to do with white supremacy) and critiques different industries that would honestly collapse without exploiting migrant labour. i really appreciate the level of detail into different economic legislation especially, that highlights the need for discriminating against undocumented migrants.
for a book that is a bit over 10 years old, i think it’s still very important to read if you care any bit about migrants, immigrants and deportations — especially to the degree that ICE has brought terror into neighbourhoods across the country. i hope that chomsky can work on another, more recent edition that includes more legislative and political changes since this original 2014 publishing.
a very very well-written introduction to the history of “undocumented” immigration in america, specifically touching on Mexican and Central American migrants. it begins with questioning the very notion of citizenship and establishment of borders (it has to do with white supremacy) and critiques different industries that would honestly collapse without exploiting migrant labour. i really appreciate the level of detail into different economic legislation especially, that highlights the need for discriminating against undocumented migrants.
for a book that is a bit over 10 years old, i think it’s still very important to read if you care any bit about migrants, immigrants and deportations — especially to the degree that ICE has brought terror into neighbourhoods across the country. i hope that chomsky can work on another, more recent edition that includes more legislative and political changes since this original 2014 publishing.
September 26, 2019
This is an incredible book. I don’t think I’ll retain as much of it as I’d like, but it felt like every page was eye-opening. Highly recommended.
October 14, 2020
Everyone should start here. This is the absolute definitive guide to understanding the issue of immigration; from a legislative, humanitarian, and economic perspective.
Trust me, I’d know...😉
Trust me, I’d know...😉
February 1, 2025
Well written new and enhanced perspective.
December 21, 2024
Great book. Shows how our inhumane policies have continued with each administration and no matter the president it continues.
Sad to see Tucson and Pima County talked a lot in this book.
Sad to see Tucson and Pima County talked a lot in this book.
April 6, 2025
EVERYONE should read this book to get a better understanding of how the United States created “illegal immigration” and how they exploit migrant workers for our own benefit of consumption.
November 16, 2024
Everyone should read this. Pairs well with How Race Is Made In America
January 25, 2019
A broad and even-handed look at the history of immigration in the U.S., including how we arrived at our current state of hysteria. The author reminds us that it’s up to us—once and for all—to change the narrative by breaking the cycle of nationalism and white-washing of history, and by finding a humane, inclusive, and permanent solution for our undocumented people.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 131 reviews