Migrating to Prison traces American’s predilection for locking up immigrants. It didn’t start with Trump and it didn’t start with Obama. In fact, even the famed Ellis Island entry included a detention center. However, we are locking up more people for longer for more specious reasons than ever befor ...more
Wow. What an in depth and phenomenal review about immigration detention and its place within the prison industrial complex. In conversation and many readings, folks have a tendency to separate migrant detention from that of prisons and local jails, but the author reminds us of the inexplicable link ...more
“Despite the common refrain that immigration law is ‘broken’, immigration imprisonment is a sign that the United States immigration policy is working exactly as designed. The system hasn’t malfunctioned. It was intended to punish, stigmatize, and marginalize - all for political and financial gain.”
Read this for a paper I was writing and it’s really good, sad but good. The US needs serious immigration reform and not in the building the wall kind of way ...more
**NOTE: I received ARC of this book in ebook form via NetGalley in exchange for my honest and unbiased review. I did not receive compensation from the publisher for my review and so the opinions expressed within are of my own.**
This is an extremely fascinating and infuriating read. This book really ...more
Definitely worth the read. Though I don't agree with a few points in the book, it is a must read for Americans. Especially Americans who only hear what old white men say about immigration in our country. ...more
This is a great, concise, easy-to-read overview of one of the most troubling phenomena of the past few decades: the booming incarceration of immigrants (both in “nonpunitive” administrative detention as well in prison for the criminal offenses of unlawful entry and reentry - the two most highly pros ...more
There’s no question that Cesar Cuauhtemoc Garcia Hernandez has compiled, written, and published a clear, heartbreakingly well-researched account of the daunting and horrifying legal system that faces immigrants en route to or living within the United States. And to this end, Migrating to Prison is p ...more
There’s wasn’t a moment reading this overview of the current southern border immigration situation that felt particularly revelatory or new. This does a pretty good job of highlighting some of the key issues facing immigrants and the byzantine like structure that has been built up around this issue ...more
"Migrating to Prison" is a tough but eye-opening book, revealing the struggles of those seeking a better life in a new country. The stories depict harsh realities within the immigration system, where people face severe consequences for crossing borders illegally.
A must read whether or not you are familiar with the history of immigration law in the US. The author is a law professor originally from the Rio Grande Valley, where his family have an immigration practice. His family's lived experience provides a unique lens. This personal background further inform ...more
The most surprising find from this indictment of America's treatment of immigrants and of the for-profit prison system, was that I inadvertently invested in it! And so did most state employees (including the author, because he teaches at a state university) because it is part of their retirement inv ...more
Author provides a very detailed and intriguing history of immigration, discussing its origins in America dating all the way back to slaver and continuing through Ellis island and Angel Island. As the conversation shifted to more contemporary issues and future reform I would have liked to see the aut ...more
I listened to this on audio while working, and I'd like to actually read it. For a fairly short book, there is a lot of great information. I highly recommend Tears of the Desert for anyone interested in a first hand account of someone who was seeking asylum and waited in prison for years waiting for ...more