Journalist Rivera examines the growth of the Hispanic population in the U.S., fueled partly by what may be the single most divisive issue in America today: illegal immigration. With objective clarity and personal conviction, Rivera sheds light on an issue that is muddled with confusion and prejudice--and too often blamed for everything from terrorism to welfare. Examining the past--his own parents' struggle to be "real" Americans, as well as the plight of other ethnic groups in their quest for that dream--Rivera places the issue of illegal immigration in a historic context, dispelling the myth that we are facing an unprecedented crisis.--From publisher description.

Preface --Welcome to America -- 1. Proud to be an American -- 2. Probing the panic -- 3. The threat to America's traditional identity -- 4. The new Hispanic America, from sea to shining sea -- 5. Will Hispanic Americans be like French Quebec? -- 6. Importing terror -- 7. Immigrants and disease -- 8. Immigrants and crime -- 9. Hispanic gangs -- 10. Do Hispanics and other immigrants steal our jobs? -- 11. Saint Cesar and the immigrants -- 12. Anchor babies -- 13. Immigrants and the church -- 14. Heroes and deportees -- 15. The other side history -- 16. The threat of the two-party system -- Conclusion : An emancipation proclamation for the new century.