War in Iran
The headlines are built on long histories and debates.
Posted on in Hot Topic
Immigration
Immigration is on everyone's minds as ICE raids increase and protests defending immigrants' rights grow. These titles consider its varied facets.
Posted on June 18, 2025 in Hot Topic
Arnold, Kathleen R. American immigration after 1996: the shifting ground of political inclusion. Pennsylvania State, 2011. 182p ISBN 0271048891, $65.95; ISBN 9780271048895, $65.95.
Reviewed in CHOICE August 2012
Mexicans and Mexican Americans are the main source of legal and illegal immigration to the US and are the nation’s largest minority. This book focuses on the complexities of Mexican immigration amidst globalization of the economy; increased security, surveillance, and control; and issues of sovereignty. Foucaultian concepts such as bio-power and disciplinary power, and Agamben’s term “bare life” defined as “individual life stripped of its citizenship and ‘humanity,'” provide part of the theoretical framework. Chapter 1 offers a comprehensive literature review of assimilation theories; chapter 2 details the stereotypes and prejudices against Mexican immigrants; chapter 3 explores anti-immigrant groups and concludes that they are undemocratic and “significantly aid the increased use of prerogative power.” The last chapter examines the US guest worker and Border Industrialization Programs, both of which ensure that immigrants remain highly exploitable and politically without rights. Arnold (visiting professor, DePaul Univ.) concludes by recommending that cosmopolitan politics–a commitment to democratic practices–is a necessary solution, and she attempts to show why national immigration policy must also change in order to address the problems she considers. This book is extremely well researched and cited. A must have for university libraries and highly recommended for graduate students and policy makers. Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, research, and professional collections. —I. Coronado, University of Texas at El Paso
Cohen, Elizabeth F. Illegal: how America’s lawless immigration regime threatens us all. Basic Books, 2020. 261p index ISBN 9781541699847, $28.00; ISBN 9781541699854 ebook, $16.99.
Reviewed in CHOICE December 2020
Cohen (Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse Univ.) provides a masterful examination of how white nationalists and nativists shaped and informed the evolution of US immigration policy, and in so doing broke the immigration system. In chapter 1, “Enforcement Gone Rogue,” Cohen describes how two agencies—Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)—have flouted the law; amassed enormous budgets and power, with little oversight or accountability; and trampled on the civil rights of citizens with aggressive and brutal enforcement activities. Subsequent chapters look at the legislative history of immigration laws, including the National Origins Act, the Registry Act of 1929, and the 1965 Hart-Celler Immigration and Nationality Act, the last of which remains the framework for today’s immigration system. In the concluding chapter, the author makes three recommendations for bringing about positive change in how the US deals with immigration and citizenship and treats immigrants as future citizens: specifically, updating the registry system, decriminalizing the immigration process, and reorganizing the immigration agency. Throughout Cohen drives home the point that the US’s present out-of-control immigration enforcement regime, fueled by nativist sentiments, is eroding the rights of both citizens of the US and noncitizens and undermining democracy. Engaging, well documented, and accessible, this book is a must read. Summing Up: Essential. All readers. —I. Coronado, Arizona State University
Daniels, Roger. Guarding the Golden Door: American immigration policy and immigrants since 1882. Hill and Wang, 2004. 328p ISBN 0809053438, $30.00.
Reviewed in CHOICE October 2004
Daniels (Univ. of Cincinnati) has written many excellent studies of immigration history, but this is surely one of his best. His penetrating scholarship and skill with demographics make this study of the myths and realities of US immigration history fascinating reading and a compelling exposé. Despite Americans’ cherished self-image as a “nation of immigrants” with a “Golden Door,” modern immigration policies, established by uninformed, sometimes misinformed legislators and administrators, have been racist, nativist, and ideological. Ironically, the Immigration and Naturalization Service consistently worked against its designated clientele. Daniels supports these powerful charges with rock solid evidence. Part 1 demonstrates how the Golden Door barred most Asian, Jewish, and communist immigrants between 1882 and 1965 and established quotas for many others. Part 2 deals with piecemeal efforts (during 1965 to 2001) to admit immigrant refugees, displaced persons, and bracero-type short-term workers. Most of the new laws, including some surprising amnesties, had unintended consequences that expanded rather than controlled immigration. A short epilogue ponders the impact that 9/11 will have on future immigration. Excellent tables and graphs reinforce this very readable and well researched and documented study that belongs in every public and academic library, and that should be mandatory reading for all elected and appointed government officials. Summing Up: Essential. All libraries. —E. L. Turk, Indiana University East
Fleegler, Robert L. Ellis Island nation: immigration policy and American identity in the twentieth century. Pennsylvania, 2013. 270p ISBN 9780812245097, $49.95.
Reviewed in CHOICE December 2013
In this thoughtful, timely volume, Fleegler (Mississippi) focuses on the crucial era between the Johnson-Reed Act (1924), which hardened restrictionism that governed US policy, and the 1965 Hart-Celler Act. The 1924 law not only reinforced exclusion of most non-Europeans, it also implemented a quota system for the so-called “new immigrants” from southern and eastern Europe. Fleegler joins other recent immigration scholars such as Mae Ngai (Impossible Subjects, CH, Oct’04, 42-1149), David Roediger (Working toward Whiteness, CH, Apr’06, 43-4875), and Matthew Jacobson (Whiteness of a Different Color, 1998) in recounting the law’s impact on the attitudes of and toward immigrants. Using government reports, congressional debates, archival material, popular movies, and, less convincingly, history texts, Fleegler highlights “contributionists,” who argued that Ellis Island immigrants enriched and strengthened rather than weakened the US. Despite significant resistance, contributionist attitudes slowly took hold among the broader population, particularly during and following WW II. The tide turned dramatically in the 1950s and early 1960s, preparing the way for the major debate on the Hart-Celler immigration reforms of 1965. In a helpful epilogue, Fleegler outlines how Hart-Celler has influenced immigration policy since. An outstanding, extremely useful book for a wide range of students, scholars, and professionals seeking perspectives on the current immigration debates. Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates and above. —C. K. Piehl, Minnesota State University, Mankato
Gjelten, Tom. A nation of nations: a great American immigration story. Simon & Schuster, 2015. 405p index ISBN 9781476743851, $28.00; ISBN 9781476743875 ebook, $14.99.
Reviewed in CHOICE May 2016
Veteran journalist and National Public Radio correspondent Gjelten applies an in-depth, contextual understanding to offer a stunningly researched, analyzed, and narrated presentation of US immigration history, centered on the pivotal 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act. While providing key historical and national context, he points his lens to northern Virginia, which is both unique and characteristic in its manifestation of the issues and great diversity resulting from the 1965 legislation. Gjelten presents the stories of immigrants from El Salvador, Bolivia, Libya, and Korea, gathered through in-depth interviews and research, to make the case for what immigration means today and will mean in the future. He also conducted research to address how existing communities—for example, African American communities in Fairfax County, Virginia—engaged with and were affected by the arrival of post-1965 immigrant populations. Gjelten’s chronicles of immigrant life experiences provide qualitative “evidence”—embedded in stories of separation, hardship, a willingness to work hard, and an unwavering determination to succeed—that hopefully will inform future public debates and legislation. An important resource for anyone seeking to better understand US society and the role of immigration in the country’s past, present, and future. Summing Up: Essential. All levels/libraries. —G. R. Innes, Northern Virginia Community College
Hauptman, Samantha. The criminalization of immigration: the post 9/11 moral panic. LFB Scholarly, 2013. 169p ISBN 1593326165, $67.00; ISBN 9781593326166, $67.00.
Reviewed in CHOICE April 2014
Immigration in the US has been a racially polarizing subject. Since postwar immigrants were marked out by their salient cultural identity, their “otherification” came in handy, and some scholars presented them as a threat to the “American way of life” and the “political order.” Since 9/11, the “racialization” of immigration has given way to what Hauptman (sociology and criminal justice, Univ. of South Carolina Union) calls the “criminalization” of immigration, which has led to associating immigration with national security. Moral entrepreneurs (legislators and opinion makers) played on social concerns for public safety to take such sweeping legislative initiatives as the USA PATRIOT Act, which made even lawful immigrants suspect. Informal social control methods legitimized and reinforced formal social control (the criminal justice system) and helped institutionalize it in such architectures as homeland security. The state accumulated more power to strengthen its hand at the expense of civil liberties. Grounded in sociological perspectives, this study offers an evolutionary trajectory from moral panics, moral entrepreneurs, legislative agenda, and social control to the state’s gain in elevating immigration to the level of national security, and security over liberty. In such an environment, Hauptman concludes, immigration becomes criminalized. Summing Up: Essential. All collections in immigration studies, criminal justice, criminology, deviance, and social control. —T. Niazi, University of Wisconsin
Martinez Jr., Ramiro. Immigration and crime: race, ethnicity, and violence, ed. by Ramiro Martinez Jr., and Abel Valenzuela Jr. New York University, 2006. 238p ISBN 0814757049, $70.00; ISBN 0814757057 pbk, $22.00; ISBN 9780814757048, $70.00; ISBN 9780814757055 pbk, $22.00.
Reviewed in CHOICE January 2007
In the current debate about the positive and negative impacts of immigration, the relationship between immigration and crime is often mentioned. A view that public discourse perpetuates is that immigrants are overrepresented among the ranks of criminals. This edited volume dispels such a view by providing both theoretical and empirical evidence that there is a negative relationship, or no association, between immigrants and violence. A number of the contributors conclude that first-generation immigrants especially are less likely to engage in criminal behavior than the native population. Moreover, when first-generation immigrants do engage in crime and violence, factors such as economic deprivation and residential instability are more important than their immigrant status. Using different theoretical and methodological approaches, the contributors examine immigrants as both criminal offenders and victims. They cover topics such as juvenile violence, violence against day laborers, and the impact of class, race, and ethnicity on criminal involvement. The only topic missing from this excellent volume is a more substantial discussion of gender violence. Nevertheless, this book is a must read for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners interested in criminology and immigration. Summing Up: Essential. All levels/libraries. —G. Rabrenovic, Northeastern University
Wadhia, Shoba Sivaprasad. Banned: immigration enforcement in the time of Trump. New York University, 2019. 197p index ISBN 9781479857463, $30.00; ISBN 9781479816170 ebook, contact publisher for price.
Reviewed in CHOICE March 2020
This is a timely resource on Trump’s immigration policies, which at this writing are in the news. Wadhia’s intent is to describe and advocate, but the latter is a minor note until the last chapter. In the book’s seven chapters Wadhia (law, Penn State) explains the range of discretion that can be exercised in immigration enforcement, the Trump travel bans and shift in enforcement priorities, deferred action policies, types of speedy deportation, and refugee policy. Wadhia’s explanations of rules are clear, and his citations of statutes, regulations, and executive branch documents will help readers find the original sources easily. Wadhia also draws on 21 interviews with former government officials, immigration attorneys, and individuals directly affected by the changes in immigration policy, but the interviews are more a source of commentary and examples rather than the central data source. Very accessibly written, the book will be a great resource for those with little concrete knowledge of immigration issues in the Trump era. Minimal use of jargon makes the book valuable to a very wide audience, including readers across the entire spectrum of higher education. Summing Up: Essential. All readers. —A. L. Aoki, Augsburg University
Zayas, Luis H. Through iceboxes and kennels: how immigration detention harms children and families. Oxford, 2023. 304p bibl index ISBN 9780197668160, $34.95; ISBN 9780197668191 ebook, contact publisher for price.
Reviewed in CHOICE December 2023
In this welcome addition to the growing literature on immigration, Zayas (Univ. of Texas) focuses on Central American asylum seekers (from El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala) stuck in detention centers on the US-Mexico border. A bilingual social work scholar and psychologist, Zayas pulls no punches as he presents harrowing stories of mothers and children fleeing war and gang violence to arrival at the border, where they are incarcerated in private, profit-seeking prisons, which US immigration euphemistically terms detention centers. Though detention centers have been widely used from Obama’s presidency in 2014 to the current Biden regime, Zayas particularly condemns the inhumanity and cruelty of Trump’s reliance on family separation as immigration control. Trump’s heinous 2018 family separation policy intentionally separated thousands of children from parents, many still not reunited five years later. While providing some history of Central American migration al norte, Zayas’s emphatically stated goal is to tell the human stories of suffering and horror, especially as captured in the words of mothers and children (some in the original Spanish, with translation), by way of opening Americans’ eyes to the profound human cost of detention and separation to children and families, insisting that it is everyone’s responsibility to know. Gut-wrenching in places, and hard to put down. Summing Up: Essential. Undergraduates through faculty; professionals; general readers. —E. Hu-DeHart, Brown University