Book Review: Deported Americans: Life after deportation to Mexico by Beth C. Caldwell: (Durham: Duke University Press, 2019)

In conclusion, Caldwell presents some solutions to the excessive harms she has shown deportation causes. She offers realistic juridical and legislative changes, especially highlighting two recommendations:
1) deportation should have the same juridical status as denaturalization of citizens; and
2) courts need to reconsider prior decisions that deportation does not compromise the right to marriage and the right to family unity.
By centering her analysis on deportees’ testimonies, Caldwell very convincingly shows how citizenship legislation and deportation policy paint a legal fiction that does not correspond with the lived experiences of Americans affected by immigration policy. Although her conclusion ends on a pessimistic note, I appreciate her efforts to try to reform legislation within the current political climate. Scholars looking for innovative theory-building in deportation studies may not be satisfied after reading this book, as it clearly sets out to accomplish another goal: giving voice to marginalized Americans and directing attention to the flaws in the immigration enforcement system. Caldwell's elegant writing helps her achieve this goal, and a wide range of scholars across disciplines studying the implementation of deportation policies and lived experiences of non-citizens will enjoy reading this book.