Few issues have provoked such national outrage since integration and opposition to the Vietnam war crested in the 1960s. Despite the clamor, the rhetoric, the accusations and the arrests, few people really understand who the undocumented immigrants are, how they get into the United States and why they keep coming. Stout explains in vivid detail why Spanish-speaking workers leave their homes--and often risk their lives--to seek employment north of the border. The book includes hundreds of interviews and experiences he has shared with migrants, politicians, law officers and farm and sweatshop employers. More than 23 million Americans of Mexican descent live in the United States, 7 million of whom do not have valid papers. More than 90% find employment and over 60% send portions of their earnings to their families south of the border--providing nearly 70% of the incomes of thousands of towns and villages.--From publisher description.