Winner of 2020 International Latino Book Awards in the category “ Best Political/Current Affairs Book – English”

2019 Finalist for INDIES Book of the Year

This book is an insider's history and memoir of the battle for The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986: its evolution, passage, impact, and its legacies for the future of immigration reform. Charles Kamasaki has spent most of his life working for UnidosUS, formerly the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the nation's largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization. He was a direct participant in the many meetings, hearings, mark-ups, debates, and other developments that led to the passage of the last major immigration reform legislation, The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA). He reveals the roles of key lawmakers and a coalition of public interest lobbyists that played a role in opposing, shaping, and then implementing IRCA. His account underscores the centrality of racial issues in the immigration reform debate and why it has become a near-perpetual topic of political debate.

Cast of Characters
Author’s Note
Introduction
Chapter 1: A Meeting, A People, A Movement
Braceros
The League of United Latin American Citizens
The Four Horsemen
Gutierrez v. Gonzalez
LULAC Steps Up
The Council
Chapter 2: Storm Warnings
Chapter 3: The Battle Begins
The Group Weighs In
Mark-up
A Lame Duck
Chapter 4: New Blood, Shifting Strategies
Chapter 5: Climax, Postponed
Chapter 6: It’s Over
Negotiations
Chapter 7: Aftermath
Chapter 8: Ripples
In the Interim
An Inconclusive Conclusion
Whatever It Takes
Notes
Acknowledgments