Running the border gauntlet : the Mexican migrant controversy / Laurence Armand French.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Part I. Historical Antecedents of U.S./Mexico Geopolitics -- 1. Introduction: Religion, Race, and Imperialism -- The Religion Factor -- Protestantism and Capitalism -- Anti Catholicism Movement in the New Republic -- Strains of Racism and U.S. Expansionism -- Historical Antecedents of Manifest Destiny -- Jim Crow America -- Congressional Apology for Slavery -- 2. Myths and Realities of the Annexation of Texas and the War with Mexico -- Texas---Myths and Reality -- The Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819 -- The Empresario Land Grants -- The Mexican Constitution and the Slavery Issue -- The Emerging Texas Republic -- Slavery and the Texas Constitution -- Prelude to the U.S. Civil War: Texas Annexation and the War with Mexico -- Polk's War and a Divided Nation -- The Unresolved Slavery Issue -- The Road to Political Disorganization following the Mexican War -- Whigs Exit---Republicans Emerge -- Franklin Pierce---New England Advocate for Slavery and Imperialism -- The Ostend Manifesto and Gadsden Purchase -- 3. The History of Border Conflicts and Their Impact on Migration Trends and Policies -- The Texas Rangers -- The Texas Rangers during the Republic Era -- The Texas Rangers following Statehood: A Sordid History Continues -- The Porfiriato: Setting the Stage for the Mexican Revolution -- The United States' Favorite Despot -- Geopolitics and the Mexican Revolution -- Seeds of Mexican Discontent -- Border Disruption: From Roosevelt's Corollary to the Wilsonism Critique -- The Plan de San Diego: A Failed Attempt to Regain the Homeland -- The Texas Rangers' Reign of Terror -- Villa's 1916 Raid on Columbus, New Mexico, and the Punitive Expedition -- Harsh Treatment of the Villista Prisoners -- From Unilateral Police Action to Diplomatic Border Politics -- Part II. Mexican Migration and Social Issues from 1917 to Present -- 4. Labor and Migration issues: 1917-64 -- Mexicans and Early Immigration Laws -- The Bracero Program -- Bracero Revised, Emerging Mexican American Organizations, and Operation Wetback -- 5. Post-Bracero Migration Trends and Issues -- The "Other Whites'" Emergence Socially and Politically -- The Pro-Democracy Massacre in Mexico City -- Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and the New Mexico Land Grant Controversy -- The Court of Private Land Claims Legislation (1891 Act) -- Land Grant Issues in New Mexico Today -- Overview -- Industrialization and Internationalization of the Borderlands---Maquiladoras, WTO, and NAFTA -- Maquiladoras---The Industrialization of the Borderland -- NAFTA---Mexico's Transformation to Capitalism -- 6. Social and Human Justice Issues -- Immigration Issues since NAFTA: Laws and Trends -- The Politicalization of Mexican Immigration to the United States -- Vigilantes and the Manifestation of Hate for Mexican Migrants -- Fencing the Border and Creating "Death Corridors" -- Borderland Perils -- The "War on Drugs," RICO, and the Death Penalty Issue -- Borderland Violence---Collateral Damage: Bystanders and Maquilador Workers.

"Guarding the Gates: Immigration and National Security" "Michael C. LeMay "Today's immigration debate receives some much-needed historical perspective in this new book by LeMay, long regarded as a leading authority on U.S. immigration policy ... LeMay emphasizes the key role national security has always played in immigration policymaking, a conjunction more apparent and influential in post-9/11 U.S. society. The author is generally careful to avoid taking political sides on the polarizing immigration question, noting simply that history teaches the certainty that new coalitions---and new cycles---will continually form and reform depending on society's prevailing broader concerns. An excellent bibliography follows the narrative. Highly recommended. Most levels/libraries." Choice" "The Three U.S.-Mexico Border Wars: Drugs, Immigration, and Homeland Security" "Tony Payan "Tony Payan's book is an excellent primer on the myriad policy issues facing the United States and Mexico as they grapple with the opportunity and tragedy of their common border. Payan's lucid prose illuminates past and present on a frontier that has evolved from a collection of unguarded desert outposts to an urbanized battleground of cultural conflict."" "Hector Tobar Author of Translation Nation: Defining a New American Identity in the Spanish-Speaking United States" "In 2008, the United States allocated $3.5 billion for border patrol and $1 billion for the construction of a 700-mile fence between the United States and Mexico. The fence is unfinished, and the border remains a locus of anxiety---and often deadly struggle---as the drug war rages and jobs in both nations continue to disappear." "Although immigration and the U.S./Mexico border are perennial election issues, few Americans are aware of the long history of racial, political, religious, and class conflict that have resulted in America's contentious immigration policies. Running the Border Gauntlet: The Mexican Migrant Controversy traces this complex history, examining events that eventually led to the forceful annexation of the majority of Mexico under the pretense of Manifest Destiny and that contribute to tensions between the two nations today." "The story begins with religious discord between Protestants and Catholics and continues through the development of an economy based on slave labor, the annexation of Texas, the Mexican Revolution, the Bracero Program, NAFTA, and the "war on drugs." Among other revelations, the book challenges the longheld myths of the Texas revolution and the heroic role of the Texas Rangers and documents a continuing disregard for the welfare of indigenous populations. Drawing on all that went before, it explains not only the how and why of current U.S. immigration policy, but also its often devastating effects on migrant workers."--BOOK JACKET.