Immigrant Children Are First in Court

To stem the tide of children coming across the border from Central America, immigration courts are moving minors (and their parents if they accompany them) to the front of the line within 21 days after the deportation process begins ("Criticism Arises after Children Are Rushed to See Immigration Judges," Los Angeles Times, July 28, 2014). Some say that this expedited legal action does not allow time to locate an attorney and prepare a defense. However, others note that this new policy makes it clear that the courts will uphold immigration laws.

Review selected hard copy and online library books related to immigration at LSC-CyFair Branch Library. Click the title of a listed item, select the "Request" button in the listing, and enter your library card number and PIN for each title you want to reserve for pick up at the library.

Use these subject words and phrases to find more in the library catalog:

• border security
• illegal aliens
• immigrants
• immigration

Border Insecurity: Why Big Money, Fences, and Drones Aren't Making Us Safer by Sylvia Longmire
Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.
call number: on order
"With practical suggestions for policing the borders, informed by experience on the ground, the book provides an easy, quick, energetic, and nonpartisan introduction to the subject." - Publishers Weekly review excerpt

The Beast: Riding the Rails and Dodging Narcos on the Migrant Trail by Oscar Martínez; translated by Daniela Maria Ugaz and John Washington.

Verso, 2013.
call number: 305.906 Mar

"This searing account of the hardships suffered by Central American migrants headed through Mexico to the United States comes from true shoe-leather reporting." - Publishers Weekly review excerpt

Global Crossings: Immigration, Civilization, and America by Alvaro Vargas Llosa

The Independent Institute, 2013.

call number: 305.906 Var

“The book first looks at the immigrant experience, which connects the present to the past, and America to the rest of the world, and explores who immigrants are and why they move. It contends that the conduct of today is no different than that in the past, and contrary to the claims by immigration critics, the patterns of contemporary migration do not differ fundamentally from those of other epochs. The book then discusses immigration and culture and tackles assimilation, globalization, and cultural differences.” - publisher summary excerpt

Alabama Immigration Law Goes into Effect

Due to a new immigration law in Alabama, law enforcement will be required to make citizenship checks that will be costly, ineffective, and time consuming according to a legal expert ("Immigration Law: Court Upholds Key Parts of Tough Alabama Law," The Christian Science Monitor, September 28, 2011). US District Judge Sharon Blackburn prevented other provisions of the law to be implemented, but schools will need to review legal status of students wanting to enroll.

Review selected library titles related to immigration at LSC-CyFair Branch Library. Click the title of a listed item, select the "Request" button in the listing, and enter your library card number and PIN for each title you want to reserve for pick up at the library. Call the library at 281-290-3219 to check your PIN if you do not remember it. Use these subject words and phrases to find more in the library catalog:

• illegal aliens 
• United States emigration and immigration
• United States immigrants

U. S. Immigrant and Immigration Policies in the Twenty-First Century: Making Americans, Remaking America by Louis DeSipio and Rodolfo O. de la Garza - Westview, 2011.
call number: on order
"An accessible overview of U.S. immigration and an incisive examination of the current legislative and legal debates over immigration and settlement policies." - publishers summary excerpt


American Immigration: A Very Short Introduction by David A. Gerber - Oxford, 2011.
call number: 304.873 Ger
"A fascinating and even-handed historical account, this book puts into perspective the longer history of calls for stronger immigration laws and the on-going debates over the place of immigrants in American society." - publishers summary excerpt

Immigration edited by Debra A. Miller - Greenhaven, 2010.
call number: 325.73 Imm
"Examines the current treatment of illegal immigrants, and potential changes to the U.S. response to illegal immigration. Also looks at how U.S. immigration policy could be reformed to mitigate the problem." - publishers summary excerpt

Arizona Immigration Law Seeks to Limit Racial Profiling

After the Arizona governor signed the immigration law last week that seemed to sanction "legalized racial profiling," lawmakers revised the measure "to require scrutiny only of people who police stop, detain, or arrest." ("Arizona Lawmakers Modify Immigration Law" - Los Angeles Times, April 30, 2010). Legislators also prohibited race from the being the only reason to suspect someone was an illegal alien.

Review selected library titles related to immigration and illegal aliens at LSC-CyFair Branch Library. Click the title of a listed item, select the "Request" button in the listing, and enter your library card number and PIN for each title you want to reserve for pick up at the library. Call the library at 281-290-3219 to check your PIN if you do not remember it. Use these subject words and phrases to find more in the library catalog:

• illegal aliens
• immigration
• immigration enforcement
• Mexican-American border region
• border patrols

Immigration edited by Debra A. Miller - Greenhaven/Gale Cengage, 2010.
call number: 325.73 Imm (in processing)
The book covers such topics as "Are Illegal Immigrants Treated Fairly?" and "How Should U.S. Immigration Policy Be Reformed?" - table of contents excerpt

Imaginary lines: Border Enforcement and the Origins of Undocumented Immigration, 1882-1930 by Patrick Ettinger - University of Texas, 2009.
call number: 325.73 Ett
"Historian Patrick Ettinger offers the first comprehensive historical study of evolving border enforcement efforts on American land borders at the turn of the twentieth century. He traces the origins of widespread immigrant smuggling and illicit entry on the northern and southern United States borders at a time when English, Irish, Chinese, Italian, Russian, Lebanese, Japanese, Greek, and, later, Mexican migrants created various "backdoors" into the United States." - book summary excerpt

Border Games: Policing the U.S.-Mexico Divide by Peter Andreas - Cornell University, 2009.
call number: 363.45 And
"The book covers such topics as "Creating the Clandestine Side of the Border Economy and The Escalation of Immigration Control." - table of contents excerpt

Illegal People: How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalizes Immigrants by David Bacon - Beacon, 2008.
call number: 331.62 Bac
"The whole process that creates migrants is scarcely considered in the U.S. immigration debate, argues Bacon, who posits that displacement and migration are two perennially necessary ingredients of capitalist growth. In mapping the political economy of migration, with an unwavering eye on the rights and dignity of working people, Bacon offers an invaluable corrective to America's hobbled discourse on immigration and a spur to genuine, creative action." - Publishers Weekly review excerpt

Underground America: Narratives of Undocumented Lives edited by Peter Orner - McSweeney's Books, 2008.
call number: 304.873 Und
"McSweeney's Voices of Witness series continues (following Voices of the Storm and Surviving Justice) with this collection of oral histories from undocumented immigrants . . .Culled from new interviews, the book's 24 subjects come from around the world (Mexico, China, South Africa, Colombia, Cameroon and others), each offering a vivid, personal, often wrenching and occasionally enraging first-person look into the immigrant experience." - Publishers Weekly review excerpt