This book...is an eloquently gripping testimonio, both a memoir of the author’s struggles to develop a successful binational identity and a critique of our nation’s shifting, fractured immigration policies ... Recounting the dynamics of their fellowship and struggles, Corchado conveys in vivid terms the difficulties faced by people of Mexican and other Latino backgrounds in adapting to a country where binational and bicultural identities have been actively discouraged. More significantly, though, Corchado uses his own history of coming from a family divided by immigration—one side in the U.S., the other remaining in Mexico—to educate the reader about the manner in which immigration policies once based on outmoded racist assumptions about 'other' peoples have produced such mixed results ... Corchado ably profiles the profound changes in American demographics taking place as Mexican-born migrant workers and refugees have found niches in the American economy, and how people in disparate communities have responded differently to those challenges.
His narrative makes clear that U.S. immigration policies have long been rife with contradictions and prone to backfire, and that migrations tend to proceed regardless, following their own highly complex logic. They are events with their own story line, with a beginning, middle and, perhaps, an end. The latest story of Mexican migration spans about four decades, and this roughly coincides with Corchado’s career reporting from both sides of the border. In Homelands Corchado tells two stories at once—that of his life as a bicultural, naturalized American reporter and the larger saga of a migration surge that occurred at the same time. The approach mostly works because Corchado’s personal reflections genuinely inform the broader issues ... Corchado’s progressive leanings and preoccupation with cultural identity mercifully leave light traces on his narrative. Mostly, he reports rather than pontificates ... Corchado’s stabs at poetic language sometimes fall short, and some digressions are confusing. But his book explains broad trends with engaging ease.
Through his journey as a journalist and an immigrant in America, Corchado not only bears witness to this great Mexican-American migration, but also watches the adverse effects in his other homeland, Mexico, as increasingly, more people leave in search of higher wages and the elusive American dream. In this dark political moment, as discussions over critical issues dissolve into bipartisan blame games and Twitter wars, Corchado’s book is a breath of fresh air. Amid yet another immigration crackdown that will undoubtedly carry its own consequences for decades to come, it would behoove policymakers to pick up Corchado’s book and take pause. History not only repeats itself; it compounds. The fate of both nations relies on reckoning with—as Corchado did within his personal life—their mutual interdependence.
Corchado delivers a touching and emotional semi-autobiographical reflection of what it means to be Mexican or Mexican American in the United States. To understand his diaspora—the mingling of ethos that rests within his mind and soul—one must understand that his story is one of survival, of striving to be the best he can be and of finding a home in this beloved land that often refutes the worthiness of his people and culture ... However, this is much more than a personal story. He mixes politics and journalism in a seamless manner and proves the two are as inter-related as 'café and pan dulce' ... The Mexican culture is and always be part of the fabric of America. It is part of what 'Makes America Great,' as Corchado’s insightful book suggests.
The passages in which these four men drink tequila, savor meals that remind them of the food their mothers cooked, and talk about how they fit in—or don’t—in their new homes and whether any of them can ever go 'home' again are vividly and entertainingly rendered. As someone who, like Corchado, grew up in El Paso and made the difficult move to the Northeast, I found much that was familiar and true in his struggles with self-doubt, the powerful pull of family, and the difficulties of trying to dress and talk and act in a way that doesn’t betray a lack of sophistication to big-city professional types ... Homelands’ all-male perspective is problematic. If Corchado is presenting himself as an example of one who has moved up from the border, the reader is left to wonder how much more difficult such a journey would have been for a Mexican American woman ... Yet their struggles are rarely mentioned in this book ... That complaint aside, Homelands performs a valuable service ... These voices, like Corchado’s, will make the voyage easier for those who will surely follow.
The latest from the Dallas Morning News’ award-winning borderland correspondent is a breezy, expansive narrative that traces the Great Mexican Migration of the second half of the twentieth century ... As Corchado tells [his friends' and family's] stories and as they all grapple with facts and feelings in their attempts to make sense of their lives as border-dwellers, Mexican immigrants, and descendants of immigrants, he also assesses the struggles of Mexico and the U.S., neighboring nations whose cultures are ineluctably intertwined, to coexist positively and peacefully.
Some of the most affecting pages of Homelands recount the fear now stalking Mexicans who are in the US illegally ... Corchado is sharp on the geopolitical influences on migration, including the labour shortages created by two world wars, which sucked in Mexican workers, and the devastating impact of the attacks of September 11 2001 ... The book is far from perfect. There are inexplicable errors such as a reference to the 1995 US midterm elections. Perhaps too much knowledge of Mexico — and Spanish — is taken for granted ... But the book brings the dilemma of the immigrant powerfully home.
Corchado and his friends are not representative of all Mexican Americans, but in terms of humanizing Mexican immigration and exploring Mexican American 'in-betweenness,' this work is successful and necessary ... A sensitive, thought-provoking self-portrait of Mexican Americans who, wherever they go, call the borderlands home.
The saga...is intriguing, but the narrative is least compelling when Corchado devotes too much space to his companions. The book is most compelling when he focuses on the memoir part of the story, including how his parents reluctantly departed Mexico hoping to find a richer life north of the border. A secondary, equally compelling narrative involves Corchado’s evolution as a journalist ... An affecting, timely book that would have benefited from tighter editing and a less scattered narrative structure.
Corchado tells his own story of working as a journalist covering the border region, and he also ruminates on the juxtaposition of acceptance and rejection that his fellow Mexican immigrants are shown by individuals, industries, and the government. In addition to providing historical context for the current debate on immigration, this book is a timely and personal meditation on the concept of 'migrant' in the United States.
