Outlaws in the promised land : Mexican immigrant workers and America's future /

The presence of immigrant workers in the US is a complex subject involving the disciplines of sociology, law, politics, and economics. This book addresses the difficult issues surrounding Mexican ``illegals'' in this country, and it does so coherently and forcefully. In the opening chapter, the author focuses on the experience of one immigrant who has periodically worked in the US since 1954; as his story suggests, employment of undocumented labor is a common feature of our capitalist economy. That case history is followed by a concise historical overview of the role of Mexican immigrants in our developing industrial system. In subsequent chapters, the author examines the integration of the Mexican and American economies and the political implications of a growing underclass in our society. A concluding chapter discusses the impact of racist policies on the civil liberties of Americans. The author's arguments are presented clearly and convincingly, with a wealth of supporting factual information. For any student interested in Mexican-American affairs or immigrant labor, this book is an excellent general treatment.-R.L. Hogler, Pennsylvania State University, University Park Campus

A sympathetic but unfocused survey of the many hardships endured by Mexicans who (with or without legal standing) work in the US, which reaches out-of-left-field conclusions about the presumed threat to America's democratic institutions by measures designed to achieve some kind of immigration reform. Sociologist Cockcroft argues that Mexicans (who account for an estimated 60% of the country's undocumented aliens) do not take a significant amount of work away from Americans, most of whom refuse the jobs at issue. Nor, he contends, do the illegals tarry long here. None-the-less, he asserts, there's broad-based public support for ""regaining control of our borders."" In a sketchy history of US/Mexican relations, Cockcroft emphasizes the often exploitive, typically turbulent, and increasingly interdependent aspects of the socioeconomic ties that bind these ""good neighbors."" Owing to bracero programs of the past, the present's frontier assembly plants (maquiladoras), and related factors, the author suggests the border has become a legal fiction. American employers who ""call the tune"" on Mexican labor have a vested interest in ensuring an ""easily importable and deportable"" corps of workers, he says. That the status quo affords scant justice for tax-paying migrants who do much of America's menial labor, frequently for substandard wages, seems beyond question. Unfortunately, Cockcroft undermines any case he might have made on these wrongs with a speculative assault on pending legislation (like the remarkably resilient Simpson-Mazzoli bill) and INS policies. To illustrate, the author insinuates that a worker ID-card system (which he equates with South Africa's infamous pass laws) is at hand. Nor do his offhandedly pejorative comments on ""nativism,"" the growing opposition to bilingual education, and construction of detention centers provide convincing evidence that the constitutional rights of US citizens are at risk. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.