Adam Goodman Bücher

Constant headlines about deportations, detention camps, and border walls fuel urgent debates about immigration and American identity in the twenty-first century. This provocative book traces the troubling history of the US government's systematic efforts to terrorize and expel immigrants over the past 140 years, providing essential historical context for a pressing social and political issue. Through a sweeping narrative, the author examines how federal, state, and local officials have targeted various groups for expulsion, from Chinese and Europeans in the early twentieth century to Central Americans and Muslims today. The book reveals that Mexicans represent nine out of ten deportees, often removed not by immigration judges but through coercive administrative procedures and fear campaigns. It uncovers three primary mechanisms of the deportation system—formal deportations, "voluntary" departures, and self-deportations—and explores how public officials have used these methods to control immigrant populations. By exposing the deep roots of anti-immigrant sentiment in the U.S., the book introduces the politicians, bureaucrats, and citizens who have advocated for and profited from expulsion. It chronicles the devastating human costs of deportation and highlights innovative strategies people have adopted to resist the system and redefine belonging beyond citizenship.