A 2019 NPR Staff Pick
"Written 'in sorrow and anger, ' this is a brilliant and urgently
necessary book, eloquently making the case against bigotry and for all
of us migrants--what we are not, who we are, and why we deserve to be
welcomed, not feared." --Salman Rushdie
**
A timely argument for why the United States and the West would benefit
from accepting more immigrants**
There are few subjects in American life that prompt more discussion and
controversy than immigration. But do we really understand it? In This
Land Is Our Land, the renowned author Suketu Mehta attacks the issue
head-on. Drawing on his own experience as an Indian-born teenager
growing up in New York City and on years of reporting around the world,
Mehta subjects the worldwide anti-immigrant backlash to withering
scrutiny. As he explains, the West is being destroyed not by immigrants
but by the fear of immigrants. Mehta juxtaposes the phony narratives of
populist ideologues with the ordinary heroism of laborers, nannies, and
others, from Dubai to Queens, and explains why more people are on the
move today than ever before. As civil strife and climate change reshape
large parts of the planet, it is little surprise that borders have
become so porous. But Mehta also stresses the destructive legacies of
colonialism and global inequality on large swaths of the world: When
today's immigrants are asked, "Why are you here?" they can justly
respond, "We are here because you were there." And now that they are
here, as Mehta demonstrates, immigrants bring great benefits, enabling
countries and communities to flourish. Impassioned, rigorous, and richly
stocked with memorable stories and characters, This Land Is Our Land
is a timely and necessary intervention, and a literary polemic of the
highest order.
