Migra!: A History of the U.S. Border Patrol / Edition 1

by Kelly Lytle Hernandez

Overview

Political awareness of the tensions in U.S.-Mexico relations is rising in the twenty-first century; the American history of its treatment of illegal immigrants represents a massive failure of the promises of the American dream. This is the untold history of the United States Border Patrol from its beginnings in 1924 as a small peripheral outfit to its emergence as a large professional police force that continuously draws intense scrutiny and denunciations from political activism groups. To tell this story, MacArthur "Genius" Fellow Kelly Lytle Hernández dug through a gold mine of lost and unseen records and bits of biography stored in garages, closets, an abandoned factory, and in U.S. and Mexican archives. Focusing on the daily challenges of policing the Mexican border and bringing to light unexpected partners and forgotten dynamics, Migra! reveals how the U.S. Border Patrol translated the mandate for comprehensive migration control into a project of policing immigrants and undocumented “aliens” in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520266414
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	05/03/2010
Series:	American Crossroads , #29
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	795,301
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Kelly Lytle Hernández is Assistant Professor in the Department of History, Associate Director of the Chicano Studies Research Center at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the recipient of a MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations xi

Acknowledgments xiii

Map of the U.S.-Mexico Border Region xvi

Introduction 1

Part 1 Formation 17

1 The Early Years 19

2 A Sanctuary of Violence 45

3 The California-Arizona Borderlands 70

4 Mexico's Labor Emigrants, America's Illegal Immigrants 83

Part 2 Transformation 101

5 A New Beginning 103

6 The Corridors of Migration Control 125

7 Uprising: A Farmers' Rebellion 151

Part 3 Operation Wetback and Beyond 169

8 The Triumphs of '54 171

9 “The Day of the Wetback Is Over” 196

Epilogue 218

Notes 235

Selected Bibliography 285

Index 299

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"If you had to choose one book as a starting place for an intelligent discussion about immigration issues, you would do well to begin with Migra! by UCLA assistant professor of history Kelly Lytle Hernandez. [It] is surprisingly complex and nuanced."—Tucson Weekly

"A Useful resource for any scholar seeking to understand the complex dynamics of race, migration, and law in the twentieth century."—Law & History Review

"Hernandez offers well-documented accounts and analysis that bring considerable value to obtaining a resolution to the problem."—New York Journal of Books

"Migra! stands as a major contribution, successfully revising our understanding of border policing."—Journal of American History

"Migra! is undoubtedly a valuable book, especially as a storehouse of information and as an introduction to a new, international perspective on American immigration. Sections of it will undoubtedly become the foundations of research that will continue to broader our understanding many years into the future."—American Book Review

Editorial Reviews

A thorough and substantive study of the United States Border Patrol, or la migra in colloquial Spanish.

Hispanic American Historical Review

If you had to choose one book as a starting place for an intelligent discussion about immigration issues, you would do well to begin with Migra! . . . The story that emerges in Migra! is surprisingly complex and nuanced. It was enlightening to learn that we have been doing the same dance around these issues for almost 100 years.

Tucson Weekly

An interesting and valuable book.

Historian

Overall this book lays out an ambitious agenda and provides well-narrated documentary support for its arguments. . . . A valuable work.

Journal of Social & Cultural Geography

“Hernandez offers well-documented accounts and analysis that bring considerable value to obtaining a resolution to the problem.

New York Journal Of Books - Geri Spieler

“A meticulously researched. interesting, and enjoyable book.

The Historian

A useful resource for any scholar seeking to understand the complex dynamics of race, migration, and law in the twentieth century.

Law & History Review

Migra! is undoubtedly a valuable book, especially as a storehouse of information and as an introduction to a new, international perspective on American immigration. Sections of it will undoubtedly become the foundations of research that will continue to broader our understanding many years into the future.

American Book Review

"The most thorough history of the Border Patrol to date."

Southwestern Historical Quarterly

Migra! stands as a major contribution, successfully revising our understanding of border policing.

Journal of American History

An insightful history on the Border Patrol.

NACLA Report on the Americas

The book contributes to our understanding of the ways in which American immigration law enforcement was very much a product of U.S. foreign relations with Mexico.

Western Historical Quarterly

"The most thorough history of the Border Patrol to date."

Southwestern Historical Quarterly - George T. Díaz

“Migra! stands as a major contribution, successfully revising our understanding of border policing.

Journal Of American History - Eric Vaughn Meeks

“A thorough and substantive study of the United States Border Patrol, or la migra in colloquial Spanish.

Hispanic Amer Historical Review