Caught in the Current: Mexico's Struggle to Regulate Emigration, 1940-1980

Migration between the United States and Mexico is often compared to the river that runs along the border: a “flow” of immigrants, a “flood” of documented and undocumented workers, a “dam” that has broken. Scholars, journalists, and novelists often tell this story from a south-to-north perspective, emphasizing Mexican migration to the United States, and the American response to the influx of people crossing its borders.

In Caught in the Current, Irvin Ibargüen offers a Mexico-centered history...