State Out of the Union is award-winning journalist and historian Jeff Biggers€ riveting account of Arizona, the famed frontier state whose conflict over immigration and state€s rights has become a national bellwether. Biggers shows how Arizona€s long history of labor and civil rights battles, its contentious entry into the union, as well as cyclical upheavals over immigration rights, place the state front and center in a greater American story playing out across the United States. From President Eisenhower€s Operation Wetback to the legacy of Arizona native son C©sar Ch¡vez to the powerful influence of the state€s politicians, like Sen. Barry Goldwater and Tea Party President Russell Pearce, Biggers reveals how Arizona has played a pivotal role in determining the nation€s conservative and liberal agendas.

Today, more than 25 state legislatures have introduced anti-immigration bills that are virtual copies of Arizona€s controversial SB 1070 €œpapers please€ law. The state is ground zero in the clash over a historic demographic shift taking place across the country with the rise of a newly empowered Latino electorate. But Arizona is not only home to some of the most virulent anti-immigration legislation in the country€"it is also the birthplace of a new movement of young Latino activists and allies who have not only challenged the self-proclaimed architect of SB 1070 in a historic recall election, but are also mobilizing to defend the state€s education system from censorship.

A lasting and important work of cultural history, State Out of the Union vividly unveils the showdown over the American Dream in Arizona€"and its impact on the future of the nation.