Waiting for José : the Minutemen's pursuit of America / Harel Shapira ; with a new afterword by the author.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Shapira, Harel, author, writer of afterword.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Noncitizens--United States.

Noncitizens.

Border security--Mexican-American Border Region.

Border security.

Illegal immigration.

Minutemen (Organization).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (213 pages) : illustrations, photographs

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey ; Oxfordshire, [England] : Princeton University Press, 2013.

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

They live in the suburbs of Tennessee and Indiana. They fought in Vietnam and Desert Storm. They speak about an older, better America, an America that once was, and is no more. And for the past decade, they have come to the U.S. / Mexico border to hunt for illegal immigrants. Who are the Minutemen? Patriots? Racists? Vigilantes? Harel Shapira lived with the Minutemen and patrolled the border with them, seeking neither to condemn nor praise them, but to understand who they are and what they do. Challenging simplistic depictions of these men as right-wing fanatics with loose triggers, Shapira discovers a group of men who long for community and embrace the principles of civic engagement. Yet these desires and convictions have led them to a troubling place. Shapira takes you to that place--a stretch of desert in southern Arizona, where he reveals that what draws these men to the border is not simply racism or anti-immigrant sentiments, but a chance to relive a sense of meaning and purpose rooted in an older life of soldiering. They come to the border not only in search of illegal immigrants, but of lost identities and experiences. Now with a new afterword by the author, Waiting for José brings understanding to a group of people in search of lost identities and experiences.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

The Minutemen Chain of Command

Acknowledgments

Preface: A Place on the Border

Introduction: All Quiet on the Southern Front

Chapter 1: American Dreams

Chapter 2: Camp Vigilance

Chapter 3: Gordon and His Guns

Chapter 4: Scenes from the Border

Chapter 5: Encounters

Conclusion: Belonging in America

Afterword to the Paperback Edition

Appendix: A Note on Methodology

Notes

Works Cited

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (EBC, viewed November 28, 2017).

ISBN:

9781400888450

140088845X

OCLC:

987943122