Bacon mixes first-hand immigrants’ accounts with detailed investigative journalism to explore the connection between globalization of the economy, migration of peoples, and criminalization of the immigrant. His main contention is that the immigration debate in the U. S. misses the point entirely - immigrants do not force native-born Americans out of jobs, and neither do they do the jobs that Americans do not want. Rather, U. S. trade policies such as NAFTA, and international free trade agencies such as the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank create through their policies the impetus for people to migrate by using Third World debt to leverage migrants’ countries into lowering workers’ standards of living to a point where migration is necessary. Furthermore, he illustrates how First World corporations depend on this cheap source of labor to maximize profits, while at the same time lobbying their governments to enforce stricter immigrations sanctions and rules to keep immigrants “illegal” - lacking human and labor rights, and always fearful of complaining due to the threat of deportation. Bacon contends that not only does this harm immigrants, but all workers, as it weakens unions’ power and drives down wages across the board. He proposes an informed debate that addresses this reality, champions human rights for all people, and opposes guest programs which are designed to institutionalize immigrants as cheap labor and not as human beings. Some reports of mild violence.