Immigration, Policy and the People of Latin America

Book excerpt: Taking on historical events in Latin America as its starting point, this book examines the migration of its inhabitants to the United States with case studies from seven nations: Colombia, Cuba, Haiti, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, and Venezuela. Combining the disciplines of history and law, the authors explore the economic and historical challenges present in each nation that force "out" migration, including corruption, historical exploitation, racism, unequal/unfair trade arrangements, and the oftentimes unilateral, exploitative operations of multinational corporations. Readers will learn about the contemporary socio/political and economic realities of the seven sending nations and understand the complexity of immigration laws (as passed by the Congress), executive actions taken by individual presidents in the United States, and some state initiatives. They will hear the voices of immigrants themselves, as well as those who have stayed behind or been deported from the United States back to their home nations. This book will be of interest to students of Latin American history, as well as US history and politics.