| Edition |
First edition. |
| Description |
x, 306 pages ; 21 cm |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages [243]-289) and index. |
| Contents |
Part I: The migrants are coming. A planet on the move -- The fence : amargo y dulce -- Ordinary heroes -- Two sides of a strait -- Part II: Why they're coming. Colonialism -- The new colonialism -- War -- Climate change -- Part III: Why they're feared. The populists' false narrative -- A brief history of fear -- Culture : shitholes versus Nordics -- The color of hate -- The alliance between the mob and capital -- The refugee as pariah -- Part 4: Why they should be welcomed. Jaikisan Heights -- Jobs, crime, and culture : the threats that aren't -- We do not come empty-handed -- Immigration as reparations -- Epilogue: Family, reunified--and expanded. |
| Summary |
"There are few subjects in American life that prompt more discussion and rancor these days than immigration. In [this book], the renowned author Suketu Mehta offers a reality-based polemic that vitally clarifies the debate. Drawing on his own experience as an Indian-born teenager growing up in New York City and on years of reporting around the globe, Mehta subjects the worldwide anti-immigrant backlash to withering scrutiny. As he explains, the West is being destroyed not by immigrants but by fear of immigrants. Ranging from Dubai and Morocco to New York City, Mehta contrasts the phony narratives of populist ideologues with the ordinary heroism of laborers, domestic workers, and others, and he takes readers on a heartbreaking trip to San Diego and Tijuana, where a border fence divides families and damages lives. Throughout, Mehta shows why more people are on the move today than ever before. As civil strife and climate change reshape large parts of the planet, it is little surprise that borders have become so porous. But Mehta also stresses the destructive legacies of colonialism and global inequality in large swaths of the world: when today's immigrants are asked, "Why are you here?" they can justly respond, "We are here because you were there." And now that they are here, Mehta contends, they bring great benefits, enabling countries and communities to flourish. Impassioned, rigorous, and richly stocked with memorable stories and characters, [this book] is an urgent and necessary intervention, and a literary argument of the highest order."--Dust jacket. |
| Subject |
Immigrants -- Cultural assimilation.
|
|
Immigrants -- Social conditions -- 21st century.
|
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Refugees -- Social conditions -- 21st century.
|
|
United States -- Emigration and immigration -- Government policy.
|
|
United States -- Emigration and immigration -- Social aspects.
|
|
Western countries -- Emigration and immigration -- Social aspects.
|
|
Western countries -- Ethnic relations.
|
|
SOCIAL SCIENCE / Emigration & Immigration.
|
|
Emigration and immigration -- Government policy.
(OCoLC)fst00908700
|
|
Emigration and immigration -- Social aspects.
(OCoLC)fst00908722
|
|
Ethnic relations. (OCoLC)fst00916005
|
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Immigrants -- Cultural assimilation.
(OCoLC)fst00967721
|
|
Immigrants -- Social conditions.
(OCoLC)fst00967782
|
|
Refugees -- Social conditions.
(OCoLC)fst01092844
|
|
United States. (OCoLC)fst01204155
|
|
Western countries. (OCoLC)fst01302083
|
| Chronological Term |
2000-2099
|
| Genre/Form |
Nonfiction.
|
| ISBN |
9780374276027 (hardcover) |
|
0374276021 (hardcover) |
|
