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A review by alextbrouwer
Undocumented: How Immigration Became Illegal by Aviva Chomsky
4.0
The last few sentences of the book provide a wonderful, poignant summary:
"In the most immediate terms, we created illegal immigration by making immigration illegal. In larger terms, we created illegal immigration by fostering a global system that bases the prosperity for the few on the exploitation of the many and enforcing it, in the modern era, through borders and exclusive citizenship. It's up to us to change it."
The book provides a history of immigration in the US and how creating the concept of "illegal immigrant" in the mid 1960s effectively replaced race as the "justification" for the discrimination and exploitation of immigrants both documented and undocumented.
"In the most immediate terms, we created illegal immigration by making immigration illegal. In larger terms, we created illegal immigration by fostering a global system that bases the prosperity for the few on the exploitation of the many and enforcing it, in the modern era, through borders and exclusive citizenship. It's up to us to change it."
The book provides a history of immigration in the US and how creating the concept of "illegal immigrant" in the mid 1960s effectively replaced race as the "justification" for the discrimination and exploitation of immigrants both documented and undocumented.