A binational perspective
by Suzi Morales, J.D.
A serendipitous meeting of St. Mary’s University School of Law faculty and two Mexico City-based lawyers resulted in a mutually beneficial and enlightening result — a new book on immigration — that offers a binational perspective on the history, law and policy of immigration.
In November 2024, the St. Mary’s University School of Law faculty met with Alejandro Zeind, J.D., and Antonio Zeind, J.D., principals of the Zeind & Zeind law firm in Mexico City. In addition to running their firm, the Zeind brothers teach at the School of Law of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) and frequently collaborate with their local bar association on writing projects to shed light on current issues. They invited those at St. Mary’s Law to write a new book about immigration.
From the seed planted during that first meeting came the newly released book, Migration: A Binational Perspective Mexico and the U.S., by a group of more than 50 co-authors, including St. Mary’s Law faculty and students, UNAM law students and attorneys from the U.S. and Mexico. From a unique, cross-border perspective, the book covers topics on immigration history, law and policy.
In academic publishing, it commonly takes years for a book to get to market. This book was completed in months. St. Mary’s Law students began work during Clinical Professor of Law Erica Schommer’s weeklong immigration intensive seminar in January 2025. Over the next few months, groups of two students and an attorney mentor outlined, researched and wrote chapters, as their Mexican counterparts from UNAM were doing the same.
“The immigration system is not as cookie-cutter as the media makes it sound. This book does a great job of encompassing the magnitude and the complexity of the immigration system in the United States, including the trends from Mexico.”
— Aglae Eufracio (J.D. ’16), attorney mentor and co-author
In November 2025, a panel of the book’s co-authors, including Schommer, J.D., and St. Mary’s Law Dean Patricia Roberts, J.D., presented the book during the Guadalajara International Book Fair, one of the largest book expos in the world, held in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Insightful perspectives
Below, a few of the co-authors for the migration book shared what they learned from this unusual and successful collaboration that crossed the Mexico-U.S. border:
“From my perspective as a law professor, our chapters are not like law review articles. They’re not as academic; they’re not as dense, which means that they’re much more accessible. It is a book for anybody who’s interested in immigration issues.”— Erica Schommer, J.D., South Texas Professor, St. Mary’s Law
Raúl Contreras Bustamante, Professor at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Law School; María Goerlich León, Director of Tirant lo Blanch Mexico (publisher of the book); Dean Patricia Roberts, J.D.; Erica Schommer, J.D., South Texas Professor; and Mexican attorneys Alejandro Zeind and Antonio Zeind discuss their newly released book, Migration: A Binational Perspective Mexico and the U.S., at the Guadalajara International Book Fair.
“The immigration system is not as cookie-cutter as the media makes it sound. This book does a great job of encompassing the magnitude and the complexity of the immigration system in the United States, including the trends from Mexico.” — Aglae Eufracio (J.D. ’16), attorney mentor, co-author and assistant public defender, and Immigration Division supervisor for the Dallas County Public Defender’s Office
“I was able to have different ‘Aha!’ moments that I didn’t expect. For example, my family is from an agricultural background in the Mexican State of Tamaulipas, and we still try to visit as much as we can. But I remember, growing up, my mom would always mention how the town used to be a really thriving agricultural industry, and there was a sugar cane factory there. After the North American Free Trade Agreement, that started shifting. People started to come to the United States and work during seasons, and then, as the free flow of goods and services was opened for that exchange, the United States started ramping up its immigration laws.” — Magnolia Cruz, third-year St. Mary’s Law J.D. student and co-author, who connected her research to her own family history
“It was a fruitful experience that motivated us to keep on collaborating in other book projects for the future. St. Mary’s University’s scholars and students form a vibrant community, which, together with Mexican peers, have a lot to say, write and propose to have better places to live.” — Alejandro Zeind, J.D., co-author and partner at Zeind & Zeind in Mexico City
“It was an honor to join my colleagues in Guadalajara to present Migration: A Binational Perspective at one of the world’s premier book fairs. This project exemplifies the kind of meaningful partnership that transcends borders and enriches legal education. I want to commend Alejandro and Antonio Zeind for their vision in bringing our two institutions together, and I’m deeply grateful to our UNAM colleagues for their collaboration.” — Patricia Roberts, J.D., Dean, St. Mary’s Law
