This book traces the origins of the "illegal alien" in American law and society, explaining why and how illegal migration became the central problem in U.S. immigration policy-a process that profoundly shaped ideas and practices about citizenship, race, and state authority in the twentieth century. Mae Ngai offers a close reading of the legal regime of restriction that commenced in the 1920s-its statutory architecture, judicial genealogies, administrative...

Cooper, a border patrol officer, is constantly torn between his loyalty to a superior police captain and his sympathy towards the illegal aliens. After discovering an evil crime boss has raped a young senorita and has enlisted the police captain's skills into corrupt ranks, Cooper forsakes the code of his badge and takes justice into his own hands.