Migration from Mexico to the United States has become an increasingly volatile topic. The news is filled with stories of deaths, protests, and amnesty debates. With the constant buzz about migration in the political, economic, and legal spheres, the migrants themselves easily become a de-humanized multitude. “I Know It’s Dangerous”: Why Mexicans Risk Their Lives to Cross the Border strives to put a human face on the issue of migration and effectively turns the statistics we hear so often into individuals with real lives, needs, and desires.

As an Australian national, Lynnaire Sheridan brings a refreshingly neutral voice to this hot-button topic. With data gathered over two years of living in Baja California, Mexico, Sheridan draws out individual stories, motivations, and conceptions of risk that ultimately allow us a deeper understanding of migration. Sheridan enriches the migrants’ stories with examinations of popular songs, graffiti art on the border, analyses of newspaper articles, and in-depth interviews with migrants. Together these narratives show us that risk has become a strong motivating factor for migrants and that stricter border policies have not necessarily stemmed the rates of migration; they have merely changed how people migrate.

Sheridan’s findings have broad implications for both those interested in migration from Mexico to the United States and international migration scholars. This book will appeal to a range of disciplines in the humanities, from anthropology and criminology to art and ethnic studies. It will also resonate among legal professionals, policy makers, and social workers.

While numerous books have focused on the act of migration and its ripples across both the United States and Mexico, this book is unique in its attention to migrants in Mexico and its ability to draw out their individual stories.

Lynnaire M. Sheridan undertook her doctoral studies on the unauthorized migration of Mexicans to the United States with the School of Management, University of Western Sydney. She is a social-cultural researcher, specialist on Tourism impact management, and an adjunct senior lecturer with Edith Cowan University, Western Australia.

“Sheridan confronts with keen insight the human impacts of migration across the border and explores why Mexican families migrate to the US despite the increased risks associated with the journey.” —Choice

“Sheridan’s work provides much fruitful insight and covers a range of human situations that are compelling for understanding the human dimensions of Mexican migration to the United States.” —Stephen P. Mumme, Colorado State University

“The use of qualitative methods yields important insight that we can’t get through social surveys. The use of popular culture to expand on her field research also yields interesting results.” —Carlos E. Posadas, New Mexico State University