Immigration: A Documentary and Reference Guide [Hardcover]

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 19lCp