Debating American Immigration 1882 Present

In Debating American Immigration, 1882-Present, prominent historians Roger Daniels and Otis Graham offer competing interpretations of the past, present, and future of American immigration policy and American attitudes towards immigration. Through original essays and supporting primary documents, the authors provide recommendations for future policies and legal remedies. This compact and clearly written text is an excellent introduction to one of today's most emotionally charged issues.

"Once I thought to write a history of the immigrants in America. Then I discovered that the immigrants were American history," wrote historian Oscar Handlin. Immigrants and generations of their descendants have defined the American nation from its beginning and continue to provide America's characteristic diversity, representing practically every race, nationality, religion, and ethnic group around the world. Some immigrants came to the New World in search of economic gain. Others were brought in chains. Still others found refuge in America from religious or ethnic persecution. This single-volume encyclopedia includes more than 300 entries, covering multiple aspects of immigration history and policy: * ethnic groups, including census and immigration statistics, major periods of immigration and areas of settlement, predominant religion, and historical background * key immigration legislation, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act, Immigration Act of 1990, and Refugee Act of 1980 * terms and concepts, including green card, quota system, citizen, naturalization, picture brides, and nativism * categories of immigrants, including refugees, indentured servants, children, and exiles * immigration stations: Angel Island, Castle Garden, and Ellis Island * religious groups and churches, such as Amish, Huguenots, Muslims, and Eastern Rite churches * further reading lists and cross-references follow each entry An introductory essay provides a cogent overview of the entire scope of the book. More than 150 photographs and illustrations complement the entries. Statistical boxes supplement the articles with key information. A list of immigration, ethnic, and refugee organizations; a guide to further research that includes books, museums, and websites; and a detailed chronology conclude this useful resource for research in American history, ethnic and multicultural studies, and genealogy. Oxford's Student Companions to American History are state-of-the-art references for school and home, specifically designed and written for ages 12 through adult. Each book is a concise but comprehensive A-to-Z guide to a major historical period or theme in U.S. history, with articles on key issues and prominent individuals. The authors--distinguished scholars well-known in their areas of expertise--ensure that the entries are accurate, up-to-date, and accessible. Special features include an introductory section on how to use the book, further reading lists, cross-references, chronology, and full index.

"What part of illegal don’t you understand?" This oft-repeated slogan from immigration restrictionists illustrates the contentious quality of the immigration reform debate in the United States: a debate that has raged on unresolved since at least 1986 when our immigration system was last reformed. This impasse is due, in large part, to widespread misinformation about immigration. This short and accessible textbook takes a critical perspective on immigration law and policy, arguing that immigrant "illegality" is itself produced by law, with tremendous consequences for individuals and families. Across six chapters that examine the conceptual, historical, economic, global, legal, and racial dimensions of immigration to the United States, Prieto argues that illegal immigration is a problem of policy, not people. History and cutting-edge social science data guide an analysis of the actual, empirical impact of immigration on U.S. society. By debunking myths about immigration, the reader is invited to form their own opinion on the basis of fact and in light of the unequal treatment different immigrant groups have received since the nation’s founding. Myth and Reality in the U.S. Immigration Debate synthesizes key lessons from the fields of sociology, law and society, history, economics and critical race studies in a digestible and engaging format. This text will serve as an introduction to the study of immigration and a primer for those who wish to engage in a sober and compassionate conversation about immigrants and immigration in the United States.

The uncomfortable contemporary realities of immigration, enmeshed as they are in economic, human rights, and national security issues, have once again propelled foreign immigration to the United States toward the top of the list of U.S. domestic policy concerns. Three respected authorities on immigration and international affairs here present a carefully calibrated history of U.S. immigration in primary source documents, tracing the roots of the current debate in the history of our profoundly divided and surprisingly cyclical response to foreign immigration. This book documents this national ambivalence, identifying the major waves of immigration and clarifying the ways in which the existing social and political fabric conditioned both the response to the newcomers and their prospects of eventual integration into American society. Part I introduces the historical record: • The early days of the Republic, when most immigrants arrived from northern Europe • The most important wave of immigration to the United States in the country's history, over 1880-1920, when most immigrants arrived from Asia or from southern and eastern Europe • Virulent post-World War I anti-immigration sentiment • The World War II-era absorption of huge numbers of displaced persons fleeing the misery and devastation of Europe • Transition from a quota system to a preference system • Heightened debate in the 1980s and 1990s • The immigration policy repercussions of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 Part II takes up special issues in the contemporary immigration debate, including the security debate and immigration, immigration and the U.S. judiciary, the immigration debate and the economy, and the spectrum of public opinion on immigration revealed during the 2008 presidential election campaign. The authors demonstrate that today's highly polarized immigration reform debate in many respects recapitulates the antagonisms and chaotic policies of the 1980s and 1990s, when Ronald Reagan's Republican administration implemented an amnesty program while the state of California adopted the punitive Proposition 187. Paramount in today's immigration debate, however, are the homeland security concerns rendered acute by the 2001 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City. The controversial USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 and the Homeland Security Act of 2002 are among the documents surveyed in relation to the contemporary immigration debate.

This timely book explores immigration into the United States and the effect it has had on national identity, domestic politics and foreign relations from the 1920s to 2006. Comparing the immigration experiences of Chinese, Japanese, Mexicans, Cubans, Central Americans and Vietnamese, this book highlights how the US viewed each group throughout the American century, the various factors that have shaped US immigration, and the ways in which these debates influenced relations with the wider world. Using a comparative approach, Montoya offers an insight into the themes that have surrounded immigration, its role in forming a national identity and the ways in which changing historical contexts have shaped and re-shaped conversations about immigrants in the United States. This account helps us better understand the implications and importance of immigration throughout the American century, and informs present-day debates surrounding the issue.

With a timely new chapter on immigration in the current age of globalization, a new Preface, and new appendixes with the most recent statistics, this revised edition is an engrossing study of immigration to the United States from the colonial era to the present.

“This remarkable book does the unusual: it embeds its focus in a larger complex operational space. The migrant, the refugee, the citizen, all emerge from that larger context. The focus is not the usual detailed examination of the subject herself, but that larger world of wars, grabs, contestations, and, importantly, the claimers and resisters.”— Saskia Sassen, Professor of Sociology, Columbia University, USA This thought-provoking book begins by looking at the incredible complexities of “American identity” and ends with the threats to civil liberties with the vast expansion of state power through technology. A must-read for anyone interested in the future of the promise and realities of citizenship in the modern global landscape.— Kevin R. Johnson, Dean, UC Davis School of Law, USA Momen focuses on the basic paradox that has long marked national identity: the divide between liberal egalitarian self-conception and persistent practices of exclusion and subordination. The result is a thought-provoking text that is sure to be of interest to scholars and students of the American experience. — Aziz Rana, Professor of Law, Cornell Law School, USA This book is an exploration of American citizenship, emphasizing the paradoxes that are contained, normalized, and strengthened by the gaps existing between proposed policies and real-life practices in multiple arenas of a citizen’s life. The book considers the evolution of citizenship through the journey of the American nation and its identity, its complexities of racial exclusion, its transformations in response to domestic demands and geopolitical challenges, its changing values captured in immigration policies and practices, and finally its dynamics in terms of the shift in state power vis-à-vis citizens. While it aspires to analyze the meaning of citizenship in America from the multiple perspectives of history, politics, and policy, it pays special attention to the critical junctures where rhetoric and reality clash, allowing for the production of certain paradoxes that define citizenship rights and shape political discourse.

A Companion to American Immigration is an authoritative collection of original essays by leading scholars on the major topics and themes underlying American immigration history. Focuses on the two most important periods in American Immigration history: the Industrial Revolution (1820-1930) and the Globalizing Era (Cold War to the present) Provides an in-depth treatment of central themes, including economic circumstances, acculturation, social mobility, and assimilation Includes an introductory essay by the volume editor.