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Book Review: Illegals by Darrell Ankarlo
December 16th, 2010
Illegals: the unacceptable cost of America’s failure to control its borders, by Darrell Ankarlo
Published by Thomas Nelson
Release Date September 14, 2010
368 pages
List Price: $14.99; purchase from Amazon.com in print or Kindle Edition, Barnes and Noble in print or Nook Edition, and other book retailers.
Not since the Civil War has America been so divided over such a seemingly unsolvable issue as U.S. immigration policy.
That is what the editorials would have you thinking when you start this book. And it is true. In some ways. On April 23, 2010, a law was signed in Arizona, one of the toughest immigration laws in the states. Interestingly, this law is already a federal law. There are many individuals that do not realize this and were outraged when Arizona decided to get tough and as a state uphold this federal law by making mirroring state law.
Ankarlo begins his book in a very interesting fashion: he goes across the US border to see the lives of those who would risk everything to come to the US. He tells stories of those who fail to make it to the US; he tells stories of those who are out to help illegal immigrants make it to the US; there are accounts he has recorded of those who make it so far only to be stopped halfway (in a ‘drop house’); he tells stories of the money that is exchanged; the corruption that is evident on both sides of the border. Ankarlo’s argument is that by allowing illegal immigrants to continue to flood into the US, we, the citizens of the US, are actually keeping them in poverty as well as possibly a life of crime.
I wanted to like this book, or at least feel that I had read something worthwhile. I wanted to be able to read it and feel that I had learned something. And honestly, I did learn quite a bit. But perhaps not what was intended. I think I learned, once again, that those who write are free to press their own biases and agenda onto those who are reading. Ankarlo comes off as a pompous individual with really little respect for those who are attempting to cross the border to the US as well as those who are trying to keep them out! Consistently, Ankarlo refers to the government on both sides are incompetent. It reads like a heartless journalistic piece.
Many times Ankarlo refers to ‘racist’ in the book. I personally feel as he does; this word is thrown around casually with little regard for it’s true meaning. It is used in a way that would make people defensive and not because it is necessarily the case. Some would find Ankarlo’s book to be very patriotic; he is dedicated to preserving the US by keeping out those who are not citizens. Honestly, I had the impression that Ankarlo didn’t even want people to come from other locations who come in legally and become citizens. In the end, I did not appreciate this book. I did learn a lot from it but I had to read between the lines and get past Ankarlo’s bias and obvious contempt.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
BlossomB