Corridors of Migration: The Odyssey of Mexican Laborers, 1600–1933

Amidst generational cycles of deprivation and struggle, the author shows how diverse migratory workers, pulled by shifting job prospects, gathered into communities of shared need, cultural affinity, and common purpose. Acuña is at his best documenting the long odds faced by his subjects: persistent racism across the border, apathy of elite Mexicans, dismissal and manipulation of labor unions, viciousness of locals, brutality of growers and managers, complicity of law enforcement and the media, and failure of the Catholic Church and Mexican governments to provide assistance.