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 of migration in the mid-twentieth century. Drawing on Mexican periodicals and archival sources, he explores how the Mexican state sought to manage US-bound migration. Ibargüen examines Mexico’s efforts to blunt migration’s impact on its economy, social order, and reputation, at times even aiming to restrict the flow of migrants. As a transnational history, the book highlights how Mexico’s policies to moderate out-migration were contested by both the United States and migrants themselves, dooming them to fail. Ultimately, Caught in the Current reveals how both countries manipulated the border to impose control over a phenomenon that quickly escaped legal and political boundaries.
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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 of migration in the mid-twentieth century. Drawing on Mexican periodicals and archival sources, he explores how the Mexican state sought to manage US-bound migration. Ibargüen examines Mexico’s efforts to blunt migration’s impact on its economy, social order, and reputation, at times even aiming to restrict the flow of migrants. As a transnational history, the book highlights how Mexico’s policies to moderate out-migration were contested by both the United States and migrants themselves, dooming them to fail. Ultimately, Caught in the Current reveals how both countries manipulated the border to impose control over a phenomenon that quickly escaped legal and political boundaries.
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Caught in the Current: Mexico's Struggle to Regulate Emigration, 1940-1980

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

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

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

by Irvin Ibargüen

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Overview

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 of migration in the mid-twentieth century. Drawing on Mexican periodicals and archival sources, he explores how the Mexican state sought to manage US-bound migration. Ibargüen examines Mexico’s efforts to blunt migration’s impact on its economy, social order, and reputation, at times even aiming to restrict the flow of migrants. As a transnational history, the book highlights how Mexico’s policies to moderate out-migration were contested by both the United States and migrants themselves, dooming them to fail. Ultimately, Caught in the Current reveals how both countries manipulated the border to impose control over a phenomenon that quickly escaped legal and political boundaries.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781469689586
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date: 10/07/2025
Series: The David J. Weber Series in the New Borderlands History
Pages: 272
Product dimensions: 6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Irvin Ibargüen is assistant professor of history at New York University. He obtained his PhD from Harvard University.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Ibargüen’s groundbreaking work examines the deeper implications of Mexico’s determined—yet ultimately futile—efforts to limit outmigration. It shows how these policies influenced national identity and the transnational struggle for sovereignty amid relentless migratory pressures.”—Neil Foley, author of Mexicans in the Making of America

“Sheds a completely different light on today’s immigration restrictionists, taking readers deep into Mexico’s attempts to leverage the insatiable US demand for its workers.” —Avi Chomsky, author of Is Science Enough? Forty Critical Questions about Climate Justice

“By viewing the world from the top down as well as the bottom up, Ibarguen demonstrates the urgency of transnational perspectives and changes our understanding of the bracero program forever.” —Matt Garcia, author of Eli and the Octopus

“With insight and urgency, Ibargüen charts the push and pull between state power and migrant resilience, exposing how Mexican and US officials prioritized power while migrants bore the consequences.”—Mark Overmyer-Velázquez, editor of Construyendo el gran México: La emigración mexicana a Estados Unidos

“Ibargüen’s richly researched and nuanced interpretation of Mexico’s role in the Bracero Program is a significant addition to the study of migration and US-Mexican diplomatic relations.”—Sonia Hernández, Texas A&M University

“Through centering Mexico in the story of migration policies, Caught in the Current offers an original and much-needed perspective on the history of the US-Mexico border.”—Miguel A. Levario, Texas Tech University

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