Foreigners have been welcomed to America as refugees or sources of labour, but also demonised and excluded. Here’s what to read to understand the tense relationship
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Plenty of countries are home to lots of immigrants. But none extols its immigrant history like America, where it is drummed into pupils and inscribed on the Statue of Liberty. Yet the rhapsodies belie Americans’ own ambivalence towards the issue. Nearly six in ten are dissatisfied with the level of immigration; most peopleof it. Roger Daniels, a historian, wrote of a “dualistic attitude” towards immigration—Americans celebrate their immigrant past while rejecting much of the immigrant present.
America had few immigration restrictions until the late 19th century, then draconian limits and national-origin quotas for much of the 20th. Rules were then loosened in the 1960s, creating the current regime, which prioritises family reunification . How to explain those swings? This book, published in 2002, focuses on politics, mapping how coalitions for and against immigration shifted.
How did racist ideas infuse immigration policy and notions of citizenship? Quotas by country of origin, in effect between 1921 and 1965, were designed to reduce inflows from southern and eastern Europe. But by excluding Asians altogether, they hardened racial categories in law. Europeans were construed as white, making them eligible for naturalised citizenship, unlike most non-whites, at least before the 1940s.
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