Globalization has increased the fear of foreigners leading to debates on immigrant rights in all parts of the world, and raising the question of who gets to belong to a given society. We begin by exploring the reception of foreigners in different nations, including immigrants in the Americas. We then assess the factors that lead Latin Americans to leave their homelands, and examine the ways that immigrants? national origins, race, class, and gender shape and differentiate their experiences in US society. Finally, we focus on the changing relationship between legal status and access to rights in the United States. This course aims to provide students with the conceptual and empirical arguments necessary to assess and debate the issue of immigrant rights in the Americas today.