Homelands: Four Friends, Two Countries, and the Fate of the Great Mexican-American Migration

From prizewinning journalist and immigration expert Alfredo Corchado comes the sweeping story of the great Mexican migration from the late 1980s to today.

When Alfredo Corchado moved to Philadelphia in 1987, he felt like the only Mexican in the city. But in a restaurant called Tequila, he met and connected with two other Mexican men and one Mexican American, all feeling similarly isolated. Over the next three decades, the four friends continued to meet, coming together over their shared Mexican roots and their love of tequila. 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.

Shadows at Dawn merges the political and the personal, telling the story of four friends and the larger story of Mexican migration that swelled the Mexican population in the US from 700,000 people in the 1970s to almost 34 million people today. It is the narrative of a country in a painful economic and political transition.

As we move into a divisive, nativist new era of immigration politics, Shadows at Dawn is a must-read to understand the past and future of Mexicans in the United States, and their role in shaping the America’s story. A deeply moving narrative full of colorful characters, Shadows at Dawn is essential reading.