Overview

When Gina was deported to Tijuana, Mexico, in 2011, she left behind her parents, siblings, and children, all of whom are U.S. citizens. Despite having once had a green card, Gina was removed from the only country she had ever known. In Deported Americans legal scholar and former public defender Beth C. Caldwell tells Gina's story alongside those of dozens of other Dreamers, who are among the hundreds of thousands who have been deported to Mexico in recent years. Many of them had lawful status, held green cards, or served in the U.S. military. Now, they have been banished, many with no hope of lawfully returning. Having interviewed over one hundred deportees and their families, Caldwell traces deportation's long-term consequences-such as depression, drug use, and homelessness-on both sides of the border. Showing how U.S. deportation law systematically fails to protect the rights of immigrants and their families, Caldwell challenges traditional notions of what it means to be an American and recommends legislative and judicial reforms to mitigate the injustices suffered by the millions of U.S. citizens affected by deportation.

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9781478003908

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Reviews

Compelling, comprehensive and properly chilling. -- Andrea Plate * Asia Media International * Drawing on heart-rending interviews with deportees . . . Caldwell decries the inconsistencies between the legal definition of citizenship and people's experiences of rootedness. She argues that citizenship should be based on a person's cultural associations rather than on national boundaries. -- Richard Feinberg * Foreign Affairs * Accessible and eye-opening. . . . Caldwell's extensive research, astute legal analysis, and readable prose make this a layperson-friendly introduction to a thorny problem. * Publishers Weekly * By telling their stories, Caldwell humanizes the crises these individuals endure, including those of spouses and children who face the decision of having to leave everything they know behind to be with their exiled loved ones. A stark portrayal of the contradictory, misguided, and ineffectual immigration laws that determine the futures of so many. -- Kenneth Otani * Booklist * A deeply informed appeal to create more humane practices for noncitizens facing criminal deportation. . . . Caldwell looks systematically at the effects of deportation to Mexico on the spouses and children especially (drug abuse, depression, suicide, attractions to gangs) and how this inhumane banishment should be amended. A compelling, rigorously researched legal argument against the demonization of deportees. * Kirkus Reviews *

A deeply informed appeal to create more humane practices for noncitizens facing criminal deportation. . . . Caldwell looks systematically at the effects of deportation to Mexico on the spouses and children especially (drug abuse, depression, suicide, attractions to gangs) and how this inhumane banishment should be amended. A compelling, rigorously researched legal argument against the demonization of deportees. * Kirkus Reviews *

A deeply informed appeal to create more humane practices for noncitizens facing criminal deportation. . . . Caldwell looks systematically at the effects of deportation to Mexico on the spouses and children especially (drug abuse, depression, suicide, attractions to gangs) and how this inhumane banishment should be amended. A compelling, rigorously researched legal argument against the demonization of deportees. * Kirkus Reviews * By telling their stories, Caldwell humanizes the crises these individuals endure, including those of spouses and children who face the decision of having to leave everything they know behind to be with their exiled loved ones. A stark portrayal of the contradictory, misguided, and ineffectual immigration laws that determine the futures of so many. -- Kenneth Otani * Booklist * Accessible and eye-opening. . . . Caldwell's extensive research, astute legal analysis, and readable prose make this a layperson-friendly introduction to a thorny problem. * Publishers Weekly * Drawing on heart-rending interviews with deportees . . . Caldwell decries the inconsistencies between the legal definition of citizenship and people's experiences of rootedness. She argues that citizenship should be based on a person's cultural associations rather than on national boundaries. -- Richard Feinberg * Foreign Affairs * Compelling, comprehensive and properly chilling. -- Andrea Plate * Asia Media International * The publication of Deported Americans is immensely significant. . . . The literature on post-deportation life has shone light on the disorientation and alienation that accompany deportation. . . Caldwell is the first, however, to examine this population systematically in book-length form. -- Tobin Hansen * H-Diplo, H-Net Reviews * Deported Americans bridges an imperative gap in the literature on immigration, legal policy, and family separation and provides helpful interpretive tools in the field of migration studies. It is a worthwhile resource for academics, policymakers, and practitioners interested in understanding the causes and consequences of migration and deportation policy. -- Kristina Lovato * International Migration Review *

Author Information

Beth C. Caldwell is Professor of Legal Analysis, Writing, and Skills at Southwestern Law School and was formerly an attorney in the Los Angeles County Office of the Public Defender.

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