Suketu Mehta’s “This Land is our Land: An Immigrant’s Manifesto” is a searing broadside on migration that describes the historical causes of migration, the impact of migration on individuals as well as the native and the host countries, dispels the myths and falsehoods that surround migration and presents a well reasoned argument in favour of migration.
According to Mehta, about one-quarter billion people or one in 29 humans live in a country that is not their country of birth. He explains how the West has benefited from migration and how western countries need and will continue to need migrants to boost their economies.

Mehta calls the debate on migration as “hypocritical”. In his book, he juxtaposes his personal experience of migration, his family history, research and other tales of migration, together with reportage from ground level and the various underlying causes of migration to construct a powerful vindication for migration.

A migrant to America himself, Mehta arrived in the United States from India in the mid-1970s. He describes his family moving “all over the earth, from India to Kenya to England to the United States and back again—and still moving.” He relates the racism and discrimination, he and his family encounter in America despite being part of the so-called privileged “model” minority.