The Shadow of the Wall

The book adds invaluable information on what migrants’ experience while crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.’—AmeriQuests

‘The Shadow of the Wall is an excellent compilation…The contributors here have not called for some utopian solution. On the contrary, their research demonstrates that in order to implement reasonable immigration control, that is, a system based upon reason, a quantitative understanding must undergird any policy. Their work also elicits the voices of migrants, so often left out of the record. The book’s ethnographic work makes migrants into participants rather than objects, another perspective that policymakers must adopt in order to bring an end to the chaos and inhumanity along that line in the shadow of the wall.’—H-Net Reviews

‘The authors use a unique data set and multimethod approach to document the criminalization of migration and demonstrate the futility of deportation as a tool for deterrence. This book should energize activists, inspire academic researchers, and challenge policy-makers to rethink this failed approach.’—Wayne A. Cornelius, Director Emeritus, Mexican Migration Field Research and Training Program, University of California, San Diego
 
‘This book shows how U.S. immigration policy has changed over the years and generated unintended, undesirable outcomes: tearing families apart, fueling violence, and failing to keep deported unauthorized immigrants from attempting to immigrate anew.’—Susan Eva Eckstein, Boston University