Illegal People: How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalizes Immigrants Hardcover - 2008

Media reviews

David Bacon is the conscience of American journalism; an extraordinary social documentarist in the rugged humanist tradition of Dorothea Lange, Carey McWilliams, and Ernesto Galarza. —Mike Davis, author of No One Is Illegal

"Illegal People documents how undocumented workers have become the world's most exploited workforce-subject to raids and arrests, forced to work at low pay and under miserable conditions, and prevented from organizing on their own behalf. In this richly reported book, David Bacon makes a powerful case for the centrality of 'illegals'-of all nationalities-in the global struggle for economic justice."—Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America

"David Bacon's book brings us the reality of the deplorable conditions under which immigrants live when they get here. David also demonstrates that there is hope, and we can win something better, today, not just for immigrants, but for all working people. We just have to commit ourselves to make the policy changes that create these unacceptable conditions. ¡Sí Se Puede!"—Dolores Huerta, co-founder of United Farm Workers and president of the Dolores Huerta Foundation

"Read this book to understand why we must stop uprooting people abroad and how we can ensure rights and jobs for all people in this country. Bacon's book highlights the real value of a comprehensive approach to immigration reform, which America supports!"—Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee

"In clear and compelling language, Bacon connects the dots between trade, migration and the maldistribution of wealth. A must-read for anyone who wants to understand the cynical politics and human costs of the corporate protection racket we call globalization."—Jeff Faux, distinguished fellow at the Economic Policy Institute and author of The Global Class War

"This new and urgently needed rethinking of the global economy and migration is a unique roadmap, showing not only how we arrived at our current immigration debate impasse but outlining the possibilities for what lies ahead." —Raj Jayadev, journalist, organizer, and executive director of Silicon Valley De-Bug

"As he has before with both pen and camera, Bacon reminds us that we're all in this together-and that organizing to reject divisive racism and nativism both celebrates our common humanity and promotes a twenty-first-century vision of global citizenship."—John W. Wilhelm, president/Hospitality Industry, UNITE HERE

"Illegal People is like a fine Oaxacan tapestry woven ever so carefully with the human face of the main protagonist of the immigration dynamic-the mighty migrant laborer."—Nativo V. Lopez, national president of Hermandad Mexicana Latinoamericana and the Mexican American Political Association