Trained in the field of philosophy, Wolf (Univ. de los Andes, Colombia) makes an important intervention in philosophical studies of immigration by introducing an oppression-centered model grounded in the work of feminist political thinkers. Philosophers often ignore or undertheorize immigration, while the majority who study immigration usually provide analyses that are irrelevant or disconnected from the realities of the immigrant experience. Wolf highlights how unfairly Latin American immigrants are treated once they cross the border into a new nation—be it the US or another Latin American nation—and juxtaposes their experience and treatment with that of immigrants from Europe and the US. In this expansive and empirical work, the author demonstrates the injustices of current immigration policies enacted in both the US and parts of Latin America, arguing that the systems in place are oppressive in ways that strip immigrants of color of their humanity. Wolf uses her lived experience as a privileged European immigrant in Colombia and also cites monographs; scholarly articles; newspaper, magazine, and online articles; and legal and government documents, such as court cases, as evidence to further her argument, drawing from the works of theorists, philosophers, journalists, social scientists, and government officials. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels.

Choice Reviews

Allison Wolf’s important new book is philosophically rich, expansive in its scope, empirically informed, and hard to put down. Wolf shows that a range of immigration policies enacted not only in the United States, but throughout the Americas, constitute various “faces” of global oppression. This explicitly feminist, hemispheric approach to immigration ethics could not come at a better time.

Amy Reed-Sandoval, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, University of Texas at El Paso and author of 'Socially Undocumented: Identity and Immigration Justice'

In this excellent and original work, Allison Wolf provides a much-needed challenge to the overly idealized and U.S. centric approaches to immigration justice. By deploying a feminist-inspired framework that begins from the injustices of current immigration policies, of both the global north and global south, Wolf convincingly argues that these policies form wires in the larger cage of global oppression

José Jorge Mendoza, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, University of Washington and author of 'The Moral and Political Philosophy of Immigration: Liberty, Security, and Equality'

From a feminist perspective, Professor Wolf brightly unveils the concealed connections between injustice, migration, and public policies. The author exquisitely describes an unjust global order which consistently oppresses vulnerable migrants and isolates them from access to power and resources when forced to cross borders. Just Immigration in the Americas is a thoughtful mixture of profound theorizing and grounded reality in which academic and social impact is guaranteed.

Carolina Moreno Velásquez, Associate Professor of Law, University of Los Andes, Colombia