This provocative book explores immigration law in Spain and Italy, and exposes the tension between the temporary legal status of most immigrants, and the government emphasis on integration. It demonstrates the connections among immigrants' role as cheap labor - carefully inscribed in law - and their social exclusion and racialization.

This provocative volume explores immigration law in Spain and Italy, and exposes the tension between the temporary legal status of most immigrants, and the government emphasis on integration. It demonstrates the connections among immigrants' role as cheap labor--carefully inscribed in law--and their social exclusion and racialization. At the broadest level, the book engages questions of citizenship and belonging in this global era. It uniquely combines analysis of immigration laws and immigrants' daily experiences.