A political scientist explains the way the American immigration system ran from the rails — and proposes a bold arrange for reform

Beneath the Trump administration, US immigration agencies terrorize the undocumented, target individuals who are here legally, as well as threaten the constitutional rights of Americans. How did we get to this point?

In Illegal, Elizabeth F. Cohen reveals that our current crisis has origins in early twentieth century white nationalist politics, which started to reemerge in the 1980s. Since then, Glaciers and CBP have acquired bigger budgets and even more power than any other law enforcement company. Now, Trump has unleashed them. If you want to invert the increasing tide of abuse, Cohen argues that people must action quickly to rein in the forces of the current immigration regime and revive saner techniques based on existing rules. Going beyond the headlines, Illegal makes clear that if we don’t act now most of us, citizen and not, are in risk.