From prizewinning journalist and immigration expert Alfredo Corchado comes the sweeping story of the great Mexican migration from the late 1980s to today. Homelands is the story of Mexican immigration to the United States over the last three decades. Written by Alfredo Corchado, one of the most prominent Mexican American journalists, it's told from the perspective of four friends who first meet in a Mexican restaurant in Philadelphia in 1987. One was a radical activist, another a restaurant/tequila entrepreneur, the third a lawyer/politician, and the fourth, Alfredo, a hungry young reporter for the Wall Street Journal. Over the course of thirty years, the four friends continued to meet, coming together to share stories of the turning points in their lives-the death of parents, the births of children, professional milestones, stories from their families north and south of the border. Using the lens of this intimate narrative of friendship, the book chronicles one of modern America's most profound transformations-during which Mexican Americans swelled to become our largest single minority, changing the color, economy, and culture of America itself. In 1970, the Mexican population was just 700,000 people, but despite the recent decline in Mexican immigration to the United States, the Mexican American population has now passed three million-a result of high birth rates here in the United States. In the wake of the nativist sentiment unleased in the recent election, Homelands will be a must-read for policy makers, activists, Mexican Americas, and all those wishing to truly understand the background of our ongoing immigration debate.

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1917 edition. Excerpt: ... viii mexican home life my little family occasionally accompanied me on tours to the out-stations, where we were always welcomed in the homes. We did not always sleep on the floor, as many do, but often on soft wool mattress beds between clean, white sheets, sometimes enclosed in mosquito netting. Nor did we usually eat on the floor, as some do; our table would be quite decent, although simply furnished. The corn tortillas, made as they are in some Mexican kitchens, white, delicately thin, toasted to a crisp, often with a puff, and served hot from the earthen griddle, are--well, we would take them most any day in preference to the best product of American ovens. Beef is--or was--abundant in that cattle country. No family was too poor to afford meat of some kind. The chili sauce, or red-pepper dressing, so commonly used with meats, we learned to enjoy, but partook of it cautiously. Pepper as a food is said to be anti-malarial, and this may explain the craving for highly seasoned dishes so common in hot countries. Pepper in one form or another is rarely absent from the Mexican bill of fare. When green and tender it is boiled and served like spinach. Hot? Yes, as fire to the unaccustomed mouth; yet in my tours, at tables where other food was scarce, I have had my plate heaped with it, and, though unadulterated, one is expected to swallow it calmly, and clean his dish with tearless eyes--as do his table mates. Chili con came--red pepper with meat; enchilados--tortillas with cheese and red-pepper paste made into sandwich rolls; rellenos--green peppers stuffed with hash or other delicacy--all these are favourite dishes. Many of our ordinary vegetables we found strangely uncommon in Chihuahua. We mjssed potatoes. They were in the Parral market, ..