The Right to Stay Home
By David Bacon
By David Bacon
By David Bacon
By David Bacon
By David Bacon
By David Bacon
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Praise
“An important contribution to the current immigration debate.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Americans mostly think of immigration in terms of its impact on the US. David Bacon’s work reminds us that migration has a profound impact on the places migrants leave from, just as surely as it does on the places they go to. He argues persuasively that the right not to migrate cannot be divorced from immigrant rights. The heart of his work is in human stories, and this book validates its ideas with vivid testimony, in migrants’ own words, from those most affected.” —John W. Wilhelm, president of UNITE HERE!
“Bacon’s book, which is enhanced by 11 personal narratives, will help readers gain a significantly more sophisticated understanding of the context and on-the-ground reality of undocumented migrants in the U.S.” —Publisher’s Weekly
“Combining evocative personal narratives with penetrating geopolitical analysis, this compelling book vividly reveals the devastating effects on Mexico of the global class war of the past decades and their impact on the United States. Perhaps the most striking demand of the victims is ‘the right to not migrate,’ the right to live with dignity and hope, bitterly attacked under the neoliberal version of globalization.” —Noam Chomsky
“A must-read for organizers, immigrant advocates, policy wonks, and citizens who care about our history and values as a nation. This book puts a human face on the immigration debate, its impact on people on both sides of the border, and the indispensable elements of real comprehensive immigration reform—who got us into this mess and what we need to do to fix it.” —Eliseo Medina, international secretary-treasurer of the Service Employees International Union and former vice president of the United Farm Workers
Table Of Contents
Contents
Introduction ix
One
From Perote to Tar Heel
Pushing People out of Veracruz 1
Smithfield Goes to Mexico 4
And Veracruz Migrants Come to the United States 10
The Union Campaign in Tar Heel 14
Demands for Change, on Both Sides of the Border 18
A Union for Tobacco Workers 22
Narrative One. You Don’t Need to Be a Doctor or Scientist
to Smell the Stench: The Story of Fausto Limon 31
Narrative Two. We’re Here Because of the Economic Crisis:
The Story of David Ceja and Guadalupe Marroquin 35
Two
Cursed by Gold or Blessed by Corn
Communities Resist Canadian Mining Companies 41
Killings in San Jose del Progreso 47
Oaxacans Debate Poverty and Migration 53
A Government Committed to the Right to Not Migrate? 61
Can the Triquis Go Home? 71
Narrative Three. If We Don’t Attack the Roots
of Migration, It Will Continue to Grow:
The Story of Rufino Dominguez 82
Narrative Four. We Want to Talk about the Right
to Stay Home: The Story of Aldo Gonzalez 93
Three
The Right to a Union Means the Right to Stay Home
Mexican Miners Resist Repression and Poverty 98
Labor Law Reform a Boss Could Love 104
Calderon Goes to War with the SME 113
Migration and Cross-Border Labor Solidarity 122
Narrative Five. We’re Fighting for Our Right to Keep on
Living in Cananea: The Story of Jacinto Martinez 130
Narrative Six. No Matter What the Result, We Will Continue
to Resist: The Story of Humberto Montes de Oca 135
Four
Defending the Human Rights of Migrants
Special Courtrooms for Immigrants 142
Bush Ties Workplace Raids to Immigration Reform 146
Myths and Realities of Enforcement 153
Mississippi Resists Political Raids and Anti-Immigrant Bills 158
Utah’s Immigration Bills: A Blast from the Past 170
Narrative Seven. They Pay Us a Wage That Barely Allows Us
to Make a Living: The Story of Lucrecia Camacho 177
Narrative Eight. We Made Them Millions of Dollars:
The Story of Lupe Chavez 184
Five
Fighting the Firings
Mass Firings: The Obama Administration’s Workplace Enforcement Policy 188
The Firings Spread, along with Resistance 195
Protest Tactics Cross the Border 204
Marching Away from the Cold War 211
Narrative Nine. This Law Is Very Unjust:
The Story of Teresa Mina 220
Narrative Ten. When We Speak You Hear a Roar:
The Story of Keith Ludlum and Terry Slaughter 223
Six
Human Beings or Just Workers?
How Do You Say Justice in Mixteco? 230
Something Less Than Citizens 238
Enforcing Labor Rights for Border Crossers 247
Canada’s “Model” Guest Worker Program 253
The Pitfalls of Regulating Guest Worker Programs 261
Narrative Eleven. The Future Doesn’t Exist for Us Here:
The Story of Miguel Huerta 270
Seven
The Right to Not Migrate and Radical Reform 273
Challenging the Washington, DC, Consensus 274
The Right to Not Migrate Is a Social Movement 283
Acknowledgments 288
Sources 289
Index 292
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