In 1980, Fidel Castro, compelled by worsening economic conditions in Cuba and growing anti-Castro sentiment, reached an immigration accord with the United States that led to the largest Cuban exodus in history. The mass emigration began on April 20, 1980, when Castro announced that any Cuban who wanted to leave the country would be permitted to evacuate from the Port of Mariel. More than 120,000 Cubans joined the Freedom Flotilla for resettlement in the United States.

The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) initially welcomed the "Marielitos," but officials soon began to notice Cuban men who were "more hardened and rougher in appearance," which led to a widespread belief, fueled by the media, that Castro was using the accord to empty Cuba's prisons and hospitals of hard-core criminals and the mentally ill. Several thousand Cubans were detained without due process at the discretion of the INS.

After seven years of incarceration at federal prisons, the detainees revolted. The sieges lasted for nearly two weeks. Following the uprisings, many of the Cubans were transferred to the maximum-security federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana.

In this in-depth, hard-hitting analysis of the Oakdale and Atlanta riots, Mark S. Hamm, who trained and led a group of students to serve as legal representatives for the Cubans at the INS parole hearings, chronicles the dramatic struggles of the Cuban prisoners.

Drawing on interviews with the prisoners, guards, administrators, lawyers, judges, priests, and FBI agents involved in the riots and their settlement, Hamm's insightful account exposes an intriguing tale of political corruption, human rights violations, and monumental administrative bungling.