Border Poverty the Focus of New Book
The authors took a critical look at the ways Mexico’s recent economic crises and U.S. immigration and border security policies have shaped the quality of life in colonias.
The University of Arizona Press is publishing a co-authored book that takes a look at poverty along the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona and New Mexico.
About 500,000 people live in officially-designated “colonias” in southern Arizona and New Mexico in some of the most economically deprived conditions.
Adrian X. Esparza and Angela J. Donelson worked together to author “Colonias in Arizona and New Mexico: Border Poverty and Community Development Solutions,” a 208-page book that examined the situation in the border communities.
The University of Arizona Press is publishing Esparza and Donelson’s book.
Little is known about the 227 designated colonias, which are characterized by poor-quality housing, high levels of poverty and unemployment, and a disproportionate concentration of Hispanics.
Colonials also tend to lack infrastructure, including sewer systems, paved streets, electricity and water, and make up one of the largest pockets of poverty in the United States.
Esparza is an associate professor in the UA’s School of Natural Resources and Donelson is president of Donelson Consulting.
Together, the authors examined the communities and the people who live in the colonias and subsequently wrote the first comprehensive treatment of Arizona and New Mexico colonias, with the aim of increasing their visibility and promoting community development.
Esparza and Donelson also examined how Mexico’s recent economic crises and U.S. immigration and border security policies have shaped the quality of life in colonias, and also evaluated recent community development initiatives.
By examining the challenges and successes of these recent efforts, the authors were able to provide a generalized plan for community development.
et cetera
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The University of Arizona Press, founded in 1959, is a nonprofit publisher of about fifty books each year, with over 800 books in print. Publications include scholarly and trade titles in Native American and Latina/o studies, anthropology, archaeology, nature writing and environmental studies, regional history, Latin American studies, and space sciences.
The Press publishes two critically acclaimed series in fiction and poetry, Sun Tracks: An American Indian Literary Series, and Camino del Sol: A Latina and Latino Literary Series.
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Media ContactHolly Schaffer
The University of Arizona Press
520-621-3920