Joseph Nevins on "Dying to Live: A Story of US Immigration in an Age of Global Apartheid"

These economic refugees, particularly those who enter other countries without legal documents, are vilified in popular culture and criminalized by government policies. On Wednesday the European Union approved draconian new laws authorizing the detention of undocumented migrants for up to 18 months in prison before deportation. The estimated half a million people, many of them of minors, who enter the EU without papers each year could also face a re entry ban of up to 5 years.

Meanwhile here in the United States immigration cases now account for more than half of all federal criminal prosecutions. Over 9,000 immigrants were prosecuted in the month of March.

“Dying to Live: A Story of US immigration in an age of Global Apartheid.” That’s the title of a new book by author Joseph Nevins who teaches Geography at Vassar College. He traces the human tragedy of immigration across the US-Mexico border. His starting point is the story of Julio Cesar Gallegas who died ten years ago in the scorching desert between California and Mexico. He was trying to be reunited with his wife and son in Los Angeles.

Joseph Nevins, Associate Professor of Geography at Vassar College. He is the author of several books including “A Not So Distant Horror: mass Violence in East Timor” and “The Rise of the Illegal Alien and the Making of the US-Mexico Boundary.” His latest book published by City Lights is called “Dying to Live: A Story of US Immigration in an Age of Global Apartheid.”