Scholars, journalists, and policymakers have long argued that the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act dramatically reshaped the demographic composition of the United States. In A Nation of Immigrants Reconsidered, leading scholars of immigration explore how the political and ideological struggles of the "age of restriction"—from 1924 to 1965—paved the way for the changes to come. The essays examine how geopolitics, civil rights, perceptions of America's role as a humanitarian sanctuary, and economic priorities led government officials to facilitate the entrance of specific immigrant groups, thereby establishing the legal precedents for future policies. Eye-opening articles discuss Japanese war brides and changing views of miscegenation, the recruitment of former Nazi scientists, a temporary workers program with Japanese immigrants, the emotional separation of Mexican immigrant families, Puerto Rican youth's efforts to claim an American identity, and the restaurant raids of conscripted Chinese sailors during World War II.

Contributors: Eiichiro Azuma, David Cook-Martín, David FitzGerald, Monique Laney, Heather Lee, Kathleen López, Laura Madokoro, Ronald L. Mize, Arissa H. Oh, Ana Elizabeth Rosas, Lorrin Thomas, Ruth Ellen Wasem, and Elliott Young

| Cover Title Copyright Contents Acknowledgments Introduction Part I. Policy and Law Beyond Borders: Remote Control and the Continuing Legacy of Racism in Immigration Legislation Gatekeeping in the Tropics: US Immigration Policy and the Cuban Connection Contested Terrain: Debating Refugee Admissions in the Cold War The Geopolitical Origins of the 1965 Immigration Act Part II. Labor Hunting for Sailors: Restaurant Raids and Conscription of Laborers during World War II The State Management of Guest Workers: The Decline of the Bracero Program, the Rise of Temporary Worker Visas Setting the Stage to Bring in the "Highly Skilled": Project Paperclip and the Recruitment of German Specialists after World War II Japanese Agricultural Labor Program: Temporary Worker Immigration, US-­Japan Cultural Diplomacy, and Ethnic Community Making among Japanese Americans Part III: "Who is a Citizen? Who Belongs?" The Undertow of Reforming Immigration Foreign, Dark, Young, Citizen Puerto Rican Youth and the Forging of an American Identity, 1930–70 Japanese War Brides and the Normalization of Family Unification after World War II Love as Mirror and Pathway: The Undocumented Emotive Configuration of Mexican Immigration Afterword: The Black Presence in US Immigration History Contributors Index |"A Nation of Immigrants Reconsidered is a terrific anthology of thirteen essays, excavating the fertile history of immigration between 1924 and 1965." —Journal of American Ethnic History
"This book makes a good case for why we must understand the mid-century period as part of a larger history of US immigration. As an overview of some of the best recent work on the period, this compilation stands out." —History
"This anthology provides an excellent analysis of immigration policy changes in the 1924-1965 period. . . . These essays are well worth reading and offer a new, more comprehensive look at this period." —Journal of American History
|Maddalena Marinari is an assistant professor of history at Gustavus Adolphus College. She is the author of From Unwanted to Restricted: Italian and Jewish Mobilization against Restrictive Immigration Laws, 1882-1965. Madeline Y. Hsu is a professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin. She is the author of the award-winning The Good Immigrants: How the Yellow Peril Became the Model Minority. María Cristina...

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