Global Crossings: Immigration, Civilization, and America

by Alvaro Vargas Llosa

Overview

The recent reawakening of the debate about migration in the new millennium has evoked intense emotion, particularly in the United States and Europe, and Global Crossings cuts through the jungle of myth, falsehood, and misrepresentation that dominates the debate, clarifying the causes and consequences of human migration. The book first looks at the immigrant experience, which connects the present to the past, and America to the rest of the world, and explores who immigrants are and why they move. It contends that the conduct of today is no different than that in the past, and contrary to the claims by immigration critics, the patterns of contemporary migration do not differ fundamentally from those of other epochs. The book then discusses immigration and culture and tackles assimilation, globalization, and cultural differences. In assessing whether critics are justified in pointing to a major cultural shift, award-winning author Alvaro Vargas Llosa reviews such topics as religion, education, entrepreneurial spirit, and attitudes toward the receiving society, and analyzes economic factors that include jobs, wages, education, and the welfare state. The book concludes that immigration’s contributions to an economy far outweigh the costs, and it makes a call for open minds and provides a pro-immigration agenda for reform.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781598131338
Publisher:	Independent Institute, The
Publication date:	06/01/2013
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Alvaro Vargas Llosa is a senior fellow of the Center on Global Prosperity at the Independent Institute; a lecturer on world economic and political issues at such venues as the World Economic Forum, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Council on Foreign Affairs, and the Inter-American Dialogue; and has contributed to the BBC World Service, the Los Angeles Times, the Miami Herald, the New York Times, Time magazine, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post. Among his books are The Che Guevara Myth, the award-winning Liberty for Latin America, and The Madness of Things Peruvian. He lives in Washington, DC.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Prologue: From Altar to Arizona xi

Part I The Immigrant Experience

1 The "Takeover" 3

2 Not Just Here, Not Just Now 19

3 Why They Move 29

4 The Reaction 47

5 Unnatural Borders 69

6 The Law as Fiction 80

Part II Immigrants and Culture

7 Immigrant Values versus Native Values 93

8 Islam, Ghettos, and Slums 106

9 The Multicultural Fallacy 114

10 Culture Changes 127

Part III Immigrants and the Economy

11 Immigrants and the Economic Seesaw 155

12 What Immigrants Do to Jobs, Wages, and the Economy 173

13 Do Immigrants Cost More than They Contribute? 199

Part IV Open Minds

14 Is Immigration a Left-Wing or a Right-Wing Cause? 223

15 Shock and Awe 233

16 Why Things and Not People? 248

17 Credo or Nationality? 269

18 A Path to Citizenship 283

19 Open Minds 295

Appendix 307

Index 337

About the Author 355

Editorial Reviews

"This compelling book is a must read for anyone on the vital yet contentious issue of immigration. Global Crossings puts a personal face on the issue, superbly arguing that restrictions on the basis of accident of birthplace have no economic or social justification, and in the hands of government are a dangerous infringement on individual liberty and human well-being." —Daniel L. McFadden, Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences and E. Morris Cox Professor of Economics, University of California–Berkeley

 

"Why do people migrate? What motivates people to go from one country to another? Alvaro Vargas Llosa responds to these vital questions ...and leads us on a valuable tour of immigration throughout the world and then focuses on aspects of the history of immigration in the U.S. The book highlights the role of immigrants in the development of nations, throwing overboard the myth that immigrants cost more than they provide or take away the jobs of citizens. Vargas Llosa encourages an ‘open mind’ which supports national policies that assimilate the cultural richness of immigrant groups and also fights against the criminalization of migration."  —Vicente Fox, former President, Republic of Mexico

 


"Global Crossings is a much needed antidote to the hysterical drivel that dominates the debate over immigration reform. The book demonstrates how important it is to adapt our immigration policy to the needs of our economy and to welcome those who will make a genuine contribution to our future prosperity. America’s success as an immigrant nation is in danger from those who would close our borders out of fear and ignorance. Global Crossings dispels both."  —Linda L. Chavez, former Director, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights


"Vargas Llosa’s brilliant, scholarly book Global Crossings brings down the temperature of the immigration debate. In prose filled with analysis and stories, statistics and history, he shows that ‘Hispanic’ immigrants are nothing new—not ‘barbarians’ but future Americans . . . Vargas Llosa sees America in terms of hope, not faith, a ‘credo,’ as he puts it, of progress, not a catechism of nationalism. Long may Global Crossings flourish."  —Deirdre N. McCloskey, Distinguished Professor of Economics, History, and English, University of Illinois–Chicago

From the Publisher