Review of Dreams and Nightmares: Immigration policy, youth and families

Although the presidency of Barack Obama promised a more progressive and socially just future for American citizens, it will be remembered by many for ushering in an era of unprecedented mass deportation. Dreams and Nightmares: Immigration Policy, Youth and Families meticulously dissects the evolution of deportation policy during this period, including the inability of the Obama administration to pass legislation that would have offered some respite to undocumented migrants who entered the United States as children. The book takes its title, in part, from the acronym for that stalled legislation the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act. Against a backdrop of political failure to instigate fundamental reform at the federal level, Zatz and Rodriguez systematically document the nightmare of family destruction and return to danger that was the ultimate result.