This brief paper makes suggestions for improved conditions for migrant communities: a Mexican program offering alternatives to unauthorized migration, U.S. reform in farm labor markets, improved border infrastructure, and cross-border law enforcement partnerships. 

Roy H. Beck, The case against immigration. New York: W.W. Norton, 1996.

 Argues that immigrants are taking jobs away from and lowering the standard of living of low-income African Americans. Focuses on legal immigration but also suggests that legal immigration increases illegal immigration as relatives and neighbors illegally follow legal immigrants to the U.S.

Alan D. Bersin, El tercer pais: reinventing the U.S./Mexico border. 48 Stanford Law Review 1413 (1996).
 When this article was written, the author was the Attorney General's Special Representative for Southwest Border Issues. He suggests four ways to improve border relations: 1) concentrate U.S. criminal justice resources on illegal border crossers with documented criminal histories; 2) acknowledge alien smuggling as a threat to public safety and a binational crime; 3) bilaterally coordinate law enforcement patrols along the border; and 4) vigilantly protect the civil rights of both migrants and law enforcement officers.

Alan D. Bersin and Judith S. Feigin, The rule of law at the border: reinventing prosecution policy in the Southern District of California, 12 Georgetown Immigration Law Journal 285 (1998).

 The authors, a former U.S. Attorney and Senior Legal Counsel for the Southern District of California, discuss changes in prosecution and enforcement policy in response to increases in drug and immigration crimes at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Samuel W. Bettwy, A proposed legislative scheme to solve the Mexican immigration problem, 2 San Diego International Law Journal 93 (2001).

 The measures that the author proposes are: 1) to exempt all family-sponsored immigration visas from Mexico’s per-country quota; 2) to guarantee a percentage of "lottery" visas for Mexicans without a U.S. sponsor; 3) to waive unlawful presence for Mexicans who return to Mexico by a specified deadline; and 4) to revoke visa petitions of Mexicans who remain in the U.S. unlawfully. 

Bilateral Commission on the Future of United States-Mexican Relations. The Challenge of interdependence: Mexico and the United States. Boston: University Press of American, 1989.

El desafío de la interdependencia: México y Estados Unidos. México: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1988.

 A collection of papers by leading specialists published in separate Spanish and English editions. The Commission is a group of private citizens, including former U.S. Secretary of State Robert McNamara, and Mario Ojeda, then President of El Colegio de México, with foundation funding and encouragement from the Mexican and U.S. governments. The areas explored in the report include Economics, Debt, Immigration, Illicit Drugs, Foreign Policy, Education and Public Opinion.

George J. Borjas, Friends or strangers: the impact of immigrants on the U.S. economy. New York: Basic Books, 1990.
 A systematic and objective analysis of economic data concerning the effects of immigration. The author examines effects on nonimmigrants' earnings, skill levels of new immigrants, the use of welfare benefits, etc.

George J. Borjas, Heaven's door. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999.

 The author examines immigration in the 1990s, phrasing the immigration debate as: How many people should be admitted and which visa applicants should the U.S. accept? He concludes that the U.S. would be better off if immigrants were more skilled and if fewer immigrants were admitted. 

Vernon M. Briggs, Jr., Mass immigration and the national  interest, 2d ed. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1996.
 Examines post-1965 migration to the United States, concludes that current U.S. immigration policy is inconsistent with the national interest, and discusses alternatives. 

Vernon M. Briggs, Jr., and Stephen Moore, Still an open door? U.S. immigration policy and the American economy. Washington, D.C.: American University Press, 1994.

 Attempts to determine whether immigrants help or hurt the U.S.  economically, whether large numbers of immigrants enhance economic well-being or take jobs away from American workers, lowering their  standard of living.

Peter Brimelow, Alien nation : Common sense about America's immigration disaster. New York: Random House, 1995.

 The author, a British-born financial journalist, views the Immigration and National Act Amendments of 1965 as the trigger for a mass migration that has transformed and may destroy the United States. See also his article:  Time to rethink immigration?, National Review, June 22, 1992.

return to top


Pastora San Juan Cafferty and David W. Engstrom, eds., Hispanics in the United States: An agenda for the twenty-first century. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, 2000.

 The authors raise questions about demographics, language, religious practices, social welfare, criminal justice, etc., in an effort to promoted understanding the role of Hispanics in the United States

Wayne A. Cornelius and Ricardo Anzaldúa Montoya, eds.,  American's new immigration law: origins, rationales, and potential consequences. La Jolla, Calif.: Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, University of California San Diego, 1983.

 One of the early monographs produced by the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies at the University of California, San Diego. For additional information about the Center and its publications, see http://www.usmex.ucsd.edu/. 

Charles P. Cozic, ed., Illegal immigration: opposing viewpoints. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 1997.

 A collection of essays designed to present diverse opinions and to stimulate discussion. Chapter titles include:  Do illegal immigrants harm America? How should America respond to illegal immigrants? Includes bibliographies (articles and books) and a list of organizations concerned with immigration issues. 

return to top

Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic, eds., The Latino/a condition, a critical reader. New York: New York University Press, 1998.

 A collection of essays on various aspects of the Latino experience. See, particularly, Part II, Conquest and immigration: how we got (get) here and Part VII, Revisionist law: does the legal system work for us? 

Peter Duignan and L.H. Gann, eds., The debate in the United States over immigration. Stanford: Hoover Institution Press, 1998.

 Essays on the costs and benefits of immigration; examination of current rules and regulations; discussion of welfare, education and employment issues in immigration.

Harriet O. Duleep and Phanindra V. Wunnava, eds., Immigrants and immigration policy: individual skills, family ties, and group identities. Greenwich, Conn. : JAI Press, c1996.

 This collection of essays examines arguments for skill-based admissions of immigrants, as opposed to the family-based criteria in place since 1965. Individual studies explore, e.g., immigrants' language acquisition, data concerning receipt of welfare benefits, why some ethnic groups are more successful than others, and the importance of ethnic networks to immigrants' entrepreneurial success. 

return to top

Owen M. Fiss, A Community of equals: the constitutional protection of new Americans. Boston: Beacon Press, 1999.

 Collection of brief essays, by lawyers and academics, debating immigration. 

Michael Fix and Jeffrey S. Passel, Immigration and immigrants: setting the record straight. Washington, D.C.: The Urban Institute, 1994.

 Analysis based on 1990 census and INS statistics, addressing questions such as: Who are the country's immigrants and where do they live? What is the impact of immigration on the U.S. labor market? How do the public sector costs of immigration compare with immigrants' tax payments? 

Karen Fleshman, Note, Abrazando Mexicanos: the United States should recognize Mexican workers' contributions to its economy by allowing them to work legally, 18 New York Law School Journal of Human Rights 237 (Spring 2002).
 The author reviews recent unsuccessful U.S. efforts to deter undocumented immigration, describes the problems created by these policies, and analyzes proposals for undocumented workers to adjust their status and work legally in the United States. 

return to top

Bimal Ghosh, Huddled masses and uncertain shores: insights into irregular migration. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1998.

 Inter-country movements that take place in defiance of national laws and regulations.

James G. Gimpel and James R. Edwards, Jr. The Congressional politics of immigration reform. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 1999.

 Immigration as a national issue; discusses U.S. Congressional action on immigration policy from 1965 to 1996, focusing on immigration reform in the 104th Congress (1995-1996). Includes an extensive bibliography.

Juan Gómez-Quiñones, Mexican American labor 1790-1990. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1994.

 Covers 1790- late 20^th century; includes an extensive bibliography.

Rosario Green and Peter H. Smith, eds. Dimensions of United States-Mexican relations. La Jolla: Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, University of California, San Diego, 1989.

 Five-volume series prepared for the Bilateral Commission on the Future of United States-Mexican Relations: 1) Images of Mexico in the United States, 2) The Economics of Interdependence, 3) Mexican Migration to the United States, 4) The Drug Connection in U.S.-Mexican Relations, 5) Foreign Policy in U.S.-Mexican Relations.

Michael J. Greenwood and John M. McDowell, Legal U.S. immigration: Influences on gender, age and skill composition. Kalamazoo, MI. : W.E. Upjohn Institute, 1999

 History of immigration, followed by immigration data.

David G. Gutiérrez, Between two worlds: Mexican immigrants in the United States. Wilmington, Del.: Scholarly Resources, Inc., 1996.

 Collection of essays, including D. Gutiérrez, Sin Fronteras: Chicanos, Mexican Americans, and the Emergence of the Contemporary Mexican Immigration Debate, 1968-1978; S. Sassen, U.S. immigration Policy toward Mexico in a Global Economy; T. Espenshade, Implications of the North American Free Trade Agreement for Mexican Migration in the United States.

return to top

Darrell Y. Hamomoto and Rodolfo D. Torres, New American destinies: a reader in contemporary Asian and Latino immigration. New York : Routledge, 1997.

 Collection of essays.

John C. Harles, Politics in the lifeboat: immigrants and the American democratic order. Boulder: Westview Press, 1993.

 To assess immigration's impact on the United States with relation to consensus building and political stability.

Luis Herrera-Lasso, The impact of U.S. immigration policy on U.S.-Mexico relations, 46 Voices of Mexico 47 (1999).
 This brief article, in English, was authored by the Mexican Consul General in San Diego. It provides a summary of U.S. immigration policy in the last three decades and suggests three steps for improvement: 1) redefining Mexican immigration as a foreign policy matter, leading to bilateral discussions; 2) U.S. consideration of the effects that its immigration policy has on other areas of U.S.-Mexican relations, and 3) alternatives to the militarization of the U.S.-Mexican border.

Josiah M. Heyman, Finding a moral heart for U.S. immigration policy: an anthropological perspective. Arlington, VA : American Anthropological Association, 1998.
 Argument for "local compacts": political fora for deliberation on regionally appropriate immigration policies to address the core failing of current U.S. immigration policy.

Robert Charles Hill and E. Dana Neacsu, Immigration and nationality, in International Legal Developments in Review, 2000, 35 International Lawyer 743 (2001).
 An annual review of immigration and nationality issues.

Bill Ong Hing, The dark side of Operation Gatekeeper, 7 U.C. Davis Journal of International Law and Policy 121 (Spring 2001).
 The author deplores the human costs of Operation Gatekeeper and urges an immediate reversal of the policy.

Bill Ong Hing, The immigrant as criminal: punishing dreamers. 9 Hastings Women's Law Journal 79 (1998).
 Describes recent U.S. immigration policy as a four-step process: problematizing, demonizing, dehumanizing and criminalizing. The portion of the article that discusses Mexican immigrants recounts the ambivalence of U.S. immigration policy, alternatively inviting and excluding Mexican immigration since the late 19th century.

Elizabeth Hull, Without justice for all: the constitutional rights of aliens. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, c1985.

  Begins with an historical overview of immigration law and policy, then focuses on resident aliens, nonimmigrant aliens and refugees.

return to top

John Isbister, The immigration debate: remaking America. West Hartford, Conn.: Kumarian Press, 1996.

  Demographic studies to answer questions about what kind of immigrants should be admitted to the U.S.

return to top

David Jacobson, ed. The Immigration reader: America in a multidisciplinary perspective. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell Publishers, 1998.

 A collection of essays on the history of immigration, ethnicity, the effect on the economy, political debate about immigration, etc.

Gerald D. Jaynes, ed., Immigration and race: new challenges for American democracy. New Haven: Yale University Press, c2000

 Collection of research papers from a conference and symposium in Washington, D.C., in 1994. Topics include residential segregation, education of immigrant children, political activity.

Hans P. Johnson, Undocumented immigration to California, 1980-1993. San Francisco, Calif.: Public Policy Institute of California, 1996. 

 An effort to develop annual estimates of the net migration of undocumented immigrants to California; concludes that there was a surge in 1989-1990 (about 400,000) and subsequent tapering off.

return to top

Gregory A. Kelson and Debra L. DeLaet, eds., Gender and immigration. New York: New York University Press, 1999.

 Collection of essays. On Mexican immigration to the U.S., see Kathleen Staudt, Seeds for Self-Sufficiency? Policy contradictions at the U.S.-Mexico border, pp. 21-37.

Desmond S. King, Making Americans: immigration, race and the origins of the diverse democracy. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2000.

 Traces the change in immigration policy from the 19^th century tendency to take all comers to the 20^th century decision to restrict entry.

Augustine J. Kposowa, The impact of immigration on the United States economy. Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 1998.

 The author examines empirical evidence to determine the effects of immigration on the earnings of nonimmigrants, on industries, the social mobility of nonimmigrants, unemployment, social assistance and social security.

return to top

Kenneth K. Lee, Huddled masses, muddled laws: why contemporary immigration policy fails to reflect public opinion. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1998.

 The author discusses immigration laws 1965-1996 which have led to unprecedented levels of immigration, despite public opinion polls indicating that U.S. citizens favor restrictions on immigration.

return to top

Douglas S. Massey et al., Beyond smoke and mirrors: Mexican immigration in an era of economic integration. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2002.
 This book is an outgrowth of the Mexican Migration Project, a binational research effort by the University of Pennsylvania Population Studies Center and the Universidad de Guadalajara Departamento de Investigación sobre Movimientos Sociales documenting Mexican migration to the United States. It analyzes U.S. immigration policy since 1965 and proposes policy changes. Includes appendices of migration statistics and a bibliography of English-language sources.

Kevin F. McCarthy and Georges Vernez, Immigration in a changing economy : California's experience. Santa Monica, Calif.: Rand, 1997.

 Results of a study following the 1992 Los Angeles riots to better understand immigration in California and to examine present and future challenges related to immigration. Summary and table of contents are available at: http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR854/ .

Joel Millman, The other Americans: how immigrants renew our country, our economy, and our values. New York: Viking Press, 1997.

 Focuses on Latin American and Caribbean immigrants.

Thomas Muller and Thomas J. Espenshade, The fourth wave: California's newest immigrants. Washington, D.C.: Urban Institute Press, 1985.

 Analysis of Mexican immigration and its effect on Southern California, particularly Los Angeles County; findings of 1982 project funded by the Weingart Foundation.

Ernest R. Myers, ed., Challenges for a changing America: perspectives of immigration and multiculturalism in the United States. San Francisco: Austin & Winfield, 1994.

 Addresses cultural diversity resulting from immigration of third world populations to the United States.

return to top

Lori A. Nessel, Undocumented immigrants in the workplace: the fallacy of labor protection and the need for reform, 36 Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review 345 (2001).
The author cites the manner in which the INS has implemented protection under the Violence against Women Act as a model for the way in which it should act to prevent the exploitation of an immigrant workforce. She favors the reinstatement of back pay as a remedy.

Gerald L. Neuman, Aliens as outlaws: government services, Proposition 187, and the structure of equal protection doctrine, 42 UCLA Law Review 1425 (1995).
 An examination of California Proposition 187 -- the 1984 ballot initiative that attempted to deny state services to undocumented aliens -- in the context of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Gerald L. Neuman, Strangers to the Constitution : immigrants, borders, and fundamental law. Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, 1996.

 An exploration of the constitutional foundations of immigration law and aliens' rights in the United States.

Joseph Nevins, Operation Gatekeeper: the rise of the "illegal alien" and the making of the U.S.-Mexico boundary. New York: Routledge, 2002.
 Traces the history of the U.S.-Mexico border in the San Diego region and examines in detail Operation Gatekeeper, the border control strategy initiated in 1994 to police the border and prevent unauthorized  immigration. Includes an extensive bibliography.

return to top

Silvia Pedraza and Rubén Rumbaut, eds. Origins and destinies: immigration, race and ethnicity in America. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing Co., 1996.

 Collection of essays, including R. Romo, Mexican Americans: their civic and political incorporation; L. Chavez, Borders and bridges: undocumented immigrants from Mexico and Central America; M. Bozorgmehr et al., Los Angeles, explosive diversity.

Juan F. Perea, ed., Immigrants out: the new nativism and the anti-immigrant impulse in the United States. New York: New York University Press, 1997.

 Collection of essays on Nativism, Immigration Reform, Official English as nativist backlash; immigration, poverty and social conflict in California communities; a section on Border Crossings.

Alejandro Portes and Rubén G. Rumbaut, Immigrant America: a portrait, 2d ed. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996.

 Adaptation, acculturation, language and education, second generation immigrants.

return to top

David M. Reimers, Still the golden door: the third world comes to America, 2d ed. New York: Columbia University Press, 1992.

 Includes a discussion of the 1990 Immigration Act, which was passed too late for inclusion in the 1^st edition.

David M. Reimers, Unwelcome strangers: American identity and the turn against immigration. New York: Columbia University Press, 1998.

 Traces the history of U.S. immigration, focusing on post-WWII immigration and the "new restrictionists," such as the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), the American Immigration Control Foundation, and Proposition 187 proponents in California.

Martin L. Rothstein and James D. Acoba, Hot topics in employment-based immigration.  Washington, D.C.: American Immigration Lawyers Association, 1999. (AILA 1999 mid-year conference in Ixtapa, Mexico, January 23, 1999.)

 The topics discussed in this program book written by and for immigration lawyers include the H-1B classification for specialty occupation workers, national interest waivers, interim regulations for health care workers, and tips for preparing EB-1 cases. Tapes for this and other AILA conferences can be ordered online at http://www.csctapes.com/tapes/aila.htm.

return to top

Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, Latino employment, labor organizations and immigration, vol. 4 of Latinos in the United States. New York: Garland Publishers, Inc., 1995.

 Collection of essays, including G. Salinas and I. Torres, The Undocumented Mexican Alien: a Legal, Social and Economic Analysis; V. Romero, Whatever happened to the Fourth Amendment? Undocumented Immigrants' rights after INS v. Lopez-Mendoz and United States v. Verdugo-Urquidez.

Cheryl Shanks, Immigration and the Politics of American Sovereignty, 1890-1990. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 2001.
 The book does not focus on Mexico specifically and the period that the author discusses ends before the NAFTA. However, her analysis of 100 years of immigration policy discusses major legislation and explores the relationship between territory and population. A lengthy extensive bibliography includes congressional documents, hearings, and selected Supreme Court decisions.

James P. Smith and Barry Edmonston, eds., The immigration debate: studies on the economic, demographic, and fiscal effects of immigration. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1998.
This is a collection of background papers commissioned by and original research initiated by the Panel on the Demographic and Economic Impacts of Immigration. The immigration debate can be read online at: http://books.nap.edu/books/0309059984/html/. The final report of the Panel is The new Americans, below.

James P. Smith and Barry Edmonston, eds., The new Americans: economic, demographic, and fiscal effects of immigration. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1997.
 This is the final report of the Panel on the Demographic and Economic Impacts of Immigration, a panel of experts convened by the National Research Council at the request of the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform. The new Americans can be read online at: http://books.nap.edu/books/0309063566/html/.

Roberto Suro, Watching America's door: the immigration backlash and the new policy debate. New York: The Twentieth Century Fund Press, 1996.

 A brief examination of the anti-immigration backlash in Southern California in the early 1990s, as exemplified by Proposition 187.

return to top

Jonathan Todres, Lessons from the trade arena: A Proposal to change U.S. immigration law for the benefit of U.S. workers, 1 San Diego International Law Journal 49 (2001).

 The author examines the contradiction between U.S. trade policy, which favors the removal of trade barriers regarding goods, and immigration policy, which protects the U.S. domestic labor market. The article focuses on the H-1B visa for temporary workers in specialty occupations.

Lydio F. Tomasi, ed., In defense of the alien: Proceedings of the Annual National Legal Conference on Immigration and Refugee Policy. New York: Center for Migration Studies, 1978 --
 Topics of the 23rd conference, 2000, include Reform of the 1996 immigration laws, Employment migration into the United States, INS processing: Entry, applications, citizenship. 

return to top

Reed Ueda, Postwar immigrant America: a social history. Boston: Bedford Books, 1994.

 Discusses cycles of immigration and assimilation, the impact of arriving ethnic groups; an interdisciplinary approach: history and social science, demographic and quantitative analyses.

Understanding immigration under NAFTA: a comprehensive guide for practitioners and businesses. Washington, D.C.: Federal Publications, Inc., 1994.

 A compilation of articles and analysis from Interpreter Releases and Immigration Briefings.

U.S. immigration policy and the national interest: staff report of the Select Commission on Immigration and Refugee Policy, April 30, 1981. Washington, D.C.: The Select Commission; U.S. GPO, 1981.
 The commission was created by the Immigration and Nationality Act
Amendments of 1976 (P.L. 95-412) and chaired by Rev. Theodore
Hesburgh, then president of the University of Notre Dame. In what is
often referred to as the Hesburgh Report, the commission proposed
revisions to the Immigration and Nationality Act. Many of its
recommendations were incorporated into the Immigration Reform and
Control Act of 1986, IRCA. The staff report is ten volumes. A one-volume report to Congress, also entitled U.S. immigration policy and the national interest, is Joint committee print. No. 8, 97th Congress, 1st session, August 1981; Y 4.J 89/1:Im 6/11.

return to top

George Weissinger, Law enforcement and the INS: a  participant observation study of control agents. Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, Inc., 1996.
 The author was a criminal investigator with the INS. The book is about his experiences and includes statistics and interviews with other criminal investigators.

Lucy A. Williams, Property, wealth and inequality through the lens of globalization: lessons from the United States and Mexico, 34 Indiana Law Review 1243 (2001).
 The author urges a cross-border perspective in examining issues such as immigration and labor, in an effort to create a comprehensive anti-poverty strategy.

return to top

Philip Q. Yang, Post-1965 immigration to the United Sates: structural determinants. Westport: Praeger, 1995.
 While pre-1965 immigration was governed by the National Origins Act, 1965 immigration reform abolished the discriminatory national origins quota system. This book tries to answer the question: What accounts for large cross-national differences in magnitude of legal permanent migration to the United States?

return to top