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Michigan State University

Immigrants in the United States: New Books

Contents

A selection of recent arrivals in the MSU Libraries.

Book Covers


Achieving anew : how new immigrants do in American schools, jobs, and neighborhoods

Achieving anew : how new immigrants do in American schools, jobs, and neighborhoods


Across generations : immigrant families in America

Across generations : immigrant families in America


African refugee resettlement in the United States

African refugee resettlement in the United States


Americanization in the states : immigrant social welfare policy, citizenship, & national identity in the United States, 1908-1929

Americanization in the states : immigrant social welfare policy, citizenship, & national identity in the United States, 1908-1929


Border wars

Border wars


Breaks in the chain : what immigrant workers can teach America about democracy 

Breaks in the chain : what immigrant workers can teach America about democracy


Brokered boundaries : creating immigrant identity in anti-immigrant times

Brokered boundaries : creating immigrant identity in anti-immigrant times


Chronology of immigration in the United States

Chronology of immigration in the United States


Coming to America : a history of immigration and ethnicity in American life

Coming to America : a history of immigration and ethnicity in American life


Contemporary Chinese America : immigration, ethnicity, and community transformation

Contemporary Chinese America : immigration, ethnicity, and community transformation


Conversations across our America : talking about immigration and the Latinoization of the United States

Conversations across our America : talking about immigration and the Latinoization of the United States


Daily Life of the New Americans : Immigration Since 1965

Daily Life of the New Americans : Immigration Since 1965


Dead in their tracks : crossing America's desert borderlands in the new era

Dead in their tracks : crossing America's desert borderlands in the new era


The death of Josseline : immigration stories from the Arizona-Mexico borderlands

The death of Josseline : immigration stories from the Arizona-Mexico borderlands


Emigrating from China to the United States : a comparison of different social experiences

Emigrating from China to the United States : a comparison of different social experiences


Ethical borders : NAFTA, globalization, and Mexican migration

Ethical borders : NAFTA, globalization, and Mexican migration


For food and faith : Dutch immigration to western Michigan, 1846-1960

For food and faith : Dutch immigration to western Michigan, 1846-1960


From every end of this earth : 13 families and the new lives they made in America

From every end of this earth : 13 families and the new lives they made in America


From immigrants to Americans : the rise and fall of fitting in

From immigrants to Americans : the rise and fall of fitting in


Global connections and local receptions : new Latino immigration to the southeastern United States

Global connections and local receptions : new Latino immigration to the southeastern United States


Illegal : life and death in Arizona's immigration war zone

Illegal : life and death in Arizona's immigration war zone


Immigrants in American history

Immigrants in American history


The immigration crisis : nativism, armed vigilantism, and the rise of a countervailing movement

The immigration crisis : nativism, armed vigilantism, and the rise of a countervailing movement


Immigration in the United States

Immigration in the United States


Killing the American dream : how anti-immigration extremists are destroying the nation

Killing the American dream : how anti-immigration extremists are destroying the nation


Latino immigrants in the United States

Latino immigrants in the United States


Major Problems in American Immigration and Ethnic History : documents and essays

Major Problems in American Immigration and Ethnic History : documents and essays


National insecurities : immigrants and U.S. deportation policy since 1882

National insecurities : immigrants and U.S. deportation policy since 1882


A sociology of immigration : (re)making multifaceted America

A sociology of immigration : (re)making multifaceted America


The sweetness of freedom : stories of immigrants

The sweetness of freedom : stories of immigrants


Taking local control : immigration policy activism in U.S. cities and states

Taking local control : immigration policy activism in U.S. cities and states


Transitions : Adjustment Strategies of American Immigrants

Transitions : Adjustment Strategies of American Immigrants


True American : language, identity, and the education of immigrant children

True American : language, identity, and the education of immigrant children


Why immigrants come to America : braceros, indocumentados, and the migra

Why immigrants come to America : braceros, indocumentados, and the migra


Featured Books, A-D

Achieving anew : how new immigrants do in American schools, jobs, and neighborhoods / Michael J. White and Jennifer E. Glick.  New York : Russell Sage Foundation, c2009.  226pp. Main Library  JV6465 .W45 2009 : Questions of assimilation motivate the ferment over immigration in the US, but the concept is notoriously contested because of its multifaceted nature, association with prickly problems of identity, and resistance to easy measurement. Sociologists White (Brown) and Glick (Arizona State Univ.) tackle the latter problem by focusing on structural assimilation because it is relatively easy to measure. They investigate, specifically, how immigrants adapt to the educational system and economy and, spatially, in neighborhoods. Distinguishing between immigration policy and immigrant policy (policies promoting immigrant adaptation), the authors argue for an analytical separation between the starting point of immigrants and their subsequent trajectory. Thus, they capture change over time--the central element of assimilation--and conclude, contra fears of their assimilability, that new immigrants are adapting to US society well. The book is well written and the quantitative analysis is convincing, but it treats the powerful variable--ethnicity--ambivalently. Sometimes, against segmented assimilation theory, the authors downplay ethnicity's importance, but at other times--notably in discussing residential segregation--their analysis shows ethnicity's potent effect on assimilation. Despite this ambivalence, the book provides a useful and needed empirical test of a persistently troublesome concept.

Across generations : immigrant families in America / edited by Nancy Foner.  New York : New York University Press, c2009.  235pp.  Main Library HQ536 .A27 2009 : Immigrants and their American-born children represent about one quarter of the United States population. Drawing on rich, in-depth ethnographic research, the fascinating case studies in Across Generations examine the intricacies of relations between the generations in a broad range of immigrant groups—from Latin America, Asia, the Caribbean, and Africa—and give a sense of what everyday life is like in immigrant families....Moving beyond the cliché of the children of immigrants engaging in pitched battles against tradition-bound parents from the old country, these vivid essays offer a nuanced view that brings out the ties that bind the generations as well as the tensions that divide them. Tackling key issues like parental discipline, marriage choices, educational and occupational expectations, legal status, and transnational family ties, Across Generations brings crucial insights to our understanding of the United States as a nation of immigrants.

African refugee resettlement in the United States / Tamar Mott.  El Paso : LFB Scholarly Pub., 2009.  302pp.  Main Library HV640.5.A3 M66 2009 : Mott  has collected extensive data on global migration patterns to study the resettlement of African refugees within the United States, offering students and researchers a detailed insight into geographic dispersion, pathways of migration, adaptation to new cultures and segregation and conflict in these new environments. The author also examines the role of state and voluntary resettlement agencies (VOLAGs) and how these intermediaries impact settlement patterns, migration flows and adaptation behaviors. Appendices include the questionnaires the author employed during the research process as well as the specific demographic patterns in the cities of Columbus and Providence.

American attitudes toward immigrants and immigration policy / Michael Sobczak.  El Paso, TX : LFB Scholarly Pub. LLC, c2010.  Main Library JV6483 .S63 2010 : A sociologist in the US Midwest, Sbobczak continues his research into immigration and race by focusing on attitudes of Americans toward immigrants and immigration policy. Such studies are legion, he admits, but almost all of them are national in scope and personal in focus--delving into the social psychology and socio-demographic factors of individuals to explain attitudes. He covers the midfield, looking at the impact of local structural conditions. Using a model derived from Blau's theory of social structure, he constructs measures for six dimensions of social structure: regional, community, population, residential, economic, and occupational. He also incorporates theories of group threat, racism, and self-interest in order to control for personal factors identified so thoroughly in other studies. One of his findings is that attitudes towards immigrants and towards immigration diverge so widely that it is theoretically and empirically inappropriate to collapse them into a single measure.

American immigration and ethnicity : a reader / edited by David Gerber and Alan M. Kraut.  New York : St. Martin's ; Basingstoke : Palgrave [distributor], 2005.  345pp.  Main Library  JV6475 .A46 2005 :  This work aims to enrich studies of American immigration history by combining and comparing the experiences of both European immigration, in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and Asian, Hispanic, Caribbean, and African immigrations in the late twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Americanization in the states : immigrant social welfare policy, citizenship, & national identity in the United States, 1908-1929 / Christina A. Ziegler-McPherson ; foreword by Richard Greenwald & Timothy Minchin.  Gainesville : University Press of Florida, c2009. 233pp.  Main Library JV6483 .Z54 2009 : Ziegler-McPherson, a public historian, explores US social welfare policies in the early decades of the 20th century that were designed to assimilate immigrants into American life and notes how these efforts were primarily chauvinistic and coercive. Written for those interested in American history and social policies, this volume provides detailed and thoughtful analyses of policies introduced in New York, California, Massachusetts and Illinois and reveals how they promoted agendas of distinctly Anglo-American middle-class ideals and values. A chapter is also devoted to immigrant schooling and adult education and their emphasis on "Americanization.

America's newcomers : an immigrant policy handbook / edited by Ann Morse.  Denver, Colo. : National Conference of State Legislatures, [1994]  108pp. Main Library JV6483 .A44 1994 

America's newcomers and the dynamics of diversity / Frank D. Bean and Gillian Stevens.  New York : Russell Sage Foundation, c2003.  309pp.  Main Library  JV6455 .B42 2003  :  Provides a picture of how immigration has actually affected the United States, while refuting common misconceptions and predicting how it might affect us in the future. Frank D. Bean and Gillian Stevens show how, on the whole, immigration has been beneficial for the United States. America's Newcomers and the Dynamics of Diversity concludes by showing that the increased racial and ethnic diversity caused by immigration may be helping to blur the racial divide in the United States, transforming the country from a biracial to multi-ethnic and multi-racial society.

Angel Island : immigrant gateway to America / Erika Lee & Judy YungOxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2010394pp.  Main Library JV6926.A65 L44 2010 : "From 1910 to 1940, over half a million people sailed through the Golden Gate, hoping to start a new life in America. But they did not all disembark in San Francisco; instead, most were ferried across the bay to the Angel Island Immigration Station. For many, this was the real gateway to the United States. For others, it was a prison and their final destination, before being sent home. In this landmark book, historians Erika Lee and Judy Yung (both descendants of immigrants detained on the island) provide the first comprehensive history of the Angel Island Immigration Station. Drawing on extensive new research, including immigration records, oral histories, and inscriptions on the barrack walls, the authors produce a sweeping yet intensely personal history of Chinese paper sons, Japanese picture brides, Korean students, South Asian political activists, Russian and Jewish refugees, Mexican families, Filipino repatriates, and many others from around the world. Their experiences on Angel Island reveal how America's discriminatory immigration policies changed the lives of immigrants and transformed the nation. A place of heartrending history and breathtaking beauty, the Angel Island Immigration Station is a National Historic Landmark, and like Ellis Island, it is recognized as one of the most important sites where America's immigration history was made. This fascinating history is ultimately about America itself and its complicated relationship to immigration, a story that continues today. Angel Island is the official publication commemorating the immigration station's 100th anniversary"

Border wars / Tom Barry.  Cambridge, MA : MIT Press, 2011.  171pp.  Main Library JV6483 .B375 2011 : The Tea Party and its allies celebrate the rogue states of the Southwest as a model for the nation in their go-it-alone posturing and tough immigration-enforcement talk. In Border Wars, dogged investigative journalist Tom Barry documents the costs of that model: lives lost; families torn apart; billions of wasted tax dollars; vigilantes prowling the desert; and fiscal crises in cities, counties, and states. Even worse, he warns, the entire nation risks following their lead. As Barry explains, the lack of coherent federal policy on immigration and drug war conduct and the uncritical embrace of all things in the name of national security has opened doors for opportunists from boardrooms to governor's offices in Texas and Arizona. Corporate-prison magnates eagerly swallow up undocumented immigrants into taxpayer-funded dungeons, border sheriffs and politicians trade on voters' fears of Latinos and "big government," and pro-business policy institutes and lobbyists battle the public interest. Border Wars offers a stark portrait of the domestic cost of failed federal leadership in the post-9/11 era.

Breaks in the chain : what immigrant workers can teach America about democracy / Paul Apostolidis.  Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, c2010.  390pp.  Main Library JV6477 .A66 2010 : In Breaks in the Chain, Paul Apostolidis investigates the personal life stories of a group of Mexican immigrant meatpackers who are at once typical and extraordinary. After crossing the border clandestinely and navigating the treacherous world of the undocumented, they waged a campaign to democratize their union and their workplace in the most hazardous industry in the United States....Breaks in the Chain shows how immigrant workers-individually and sometimes collectively-both reinforce and contest a tacit but lethal form of biopolitics that differentiates the life chances of racial groups. Examining their personal narratives, Apostolidis recasts our understanding of the ways immigrants construct and transform social power....Apostolidis uses empirical inquiry to spark new reflections in critical theory as he analyzes how immigrant workers' local practices confront structural power within and beyond America's borders. Linking stories of immigration to stories about working on the meat production line-the chain-he reveals the surprising power of activism by immigrant workers and their allies and demonstrates how it can-and should-promote social and political democracy in America.

Brokered boundaries : creating immigrant identity in anti-immigrant times / Douglas S. Massey & Magaly Sánchez R.  New York : Russell Sage Foundation, c2010.  305pp.  Main Library  JV6465 .B657 2010  ; Anti-immigrant sentiment reached a fever pitch after 9/11, but its origins go back much further. Public rhetoric aimed at exposing a so-called invasion of Latino immigrants has been gaining ground for more than three decades-and fueling increasingly restrictive federal immigration policy. Accompanied in 2008 by a flagging U.S. economy-record-level joblessness, bankruptcy, and income inequality- as well as waning consumer confidence, these conditions signaled one of the most hostile environments for immigrants in recent memory. In Brokered Boundaries, Douglas S. Massey and Magaly Sanchez R. untangle the complex political, social, and economic conditions underlying the rise of xenophobia in U.S. society. The book draws on in-depth interviews with Latin American immigrants in metropolitan New York and Philadelphia and-in their own words and images-reveals what life is like for immigrants attempting to integrate in anti-immigrant times....What do the social categories "Latino" and "American" actually mean to today's immigrants? Borkered Boundaries analyzes how first- and second-generation immigrants from Central and South America and the Caribbean navigate these categories and their associated meanings as they make their way through U.S. society. Massey and Sanchez argue that the mythos of immigration, in which newcomers gradually shed their respective languages, beliefs, and cultural practices in favor of a distinctly American way of life, is, in reality, a process of negotiation between new arrvials and native-born citizens. Natives control interactions with outsiders by creating institutional, social, psychological, and spatial mechanisms that delimit immigrants' access to material resources and even social status. Immigrants construct identities based on how they perceive and respond to these social boundaries. Brokered Boundaries provides a unique view of the conditions under which these immigrants- the majority of whom are undocumented-adapt and how their identities are formed. Throughout the book, the immigrants' own words describe their perceptions and experiences: their motivations for immigrating, their life in the workplace, the ways their expectations are in conflict with the reality of American culture, and their memories of what they left behind in their home countries. The authors make clear, however, that today's Latino immigrants are brokering boundaries in the context of unprecedented economic uncertainty, repressive anti-immigrant legislation, and a heightening fear that upward mobility for immigrants translates into downward mobility for the native-born. Despite an absolute decline in Latino immigration, immigration-related statues have tripled in recent years, including many that further shred the safety net for legal permanent residents as well as for the undocumented....Brokered Boundaries shows that, although Latin American immigrants come from many different countries, their common reception in a hostile social environment produces an emergent Latino identity soon after arrival. During antiimmigrant times, however, the longer immigrants stay in America, the more likely they are to experience discrimination and the less likely they are to identify as Americans.

Caribbean migration to Western Europe and the United States : essays on incorporation, identity, and citizenship / edited by Margarita Cervantes-Rodríguez, Ramón Grosfoguel, and Eric Mielants. Philadelphia : Temple University Press, 2009.  261pp.  Main Library JV7321 .C376 2009 : A diverse group of scholars from across academic disciplines study the transnational paths of Caribbean migration. How has the colonial path of the Caribbean influenced migration with regard to power relations, ethnic identities and transnational processes?...Through a series of case studies, the contributors to this volume examine the experiences of Caribbean immigrants to Spain, France, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands as well as the United States. They show the demographic, socioeconomic, political and cultural impact migrants have, as well as their role in the development of transnational social fields. Caribbean Migration to Western Europe and the United States also examines how contrasting discourses of democracy and racism, xenophobia and globalization shape issues pertaining to citizenship and identity.

Chronology of immigration in the United States / Russell O. Wright.  Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland & Co., c2008.  202pp.  Main Library JV6450 .W76 2008 : The United States is truly a nation of immigrants. While it was very sparsely populated by mostly Native Americans in 1600, today it is a nation of about 300 million people, most of whom are immigrants or descendents of immigrants. Before the landmark Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (which abolished national-origin quotas), about 40 million immigrants had come to America, most of them from Europe. Since 1965, another 40 million immigrants have arrived, primarily from Mexico and Asia. This book details the issues and events of immigration to America chronologically from 1600 to the present, beginning with the mass influx of Jamestown settlers, Pilgrim separatists, and slaves during the colonial period and concluding with a discussion of the ongoing contemporary legislative debates over illegal immigration and border security. Other topics include the development of the first immigration-regulating laws in the Alien and Sedition Acts of the late 1790s; the mass influx of cheap immigrant labor during the industrial revolution; the intended severity of the 1917, 1921, and 1924 immigration laws; and the effects of the September 11, 2001 attacks, the Patriot Act of 2001, and the Homeland Security Act of 2002 on reshaping the public's opinion toward national security and immigration, particularly illegal immigration.

Coming to America : a history of immigration and ethnicity in American life / Roger Daniels.  New York, NY : Perennial, 2002.  2nd edition, 515pp.  Main Library E184.A1 D26 2002 : This historical survey of immigration offers accounts of the arrival of a wide range of ethnic groups in America, from the earliest colonists to the recent influx of Latin Americans, and includes a new chapter on "Immigration in an Age of Globalization," new immigration statistics, and a new preface.

Contemporary Chinese America : immigration, ethnicity, and community transformation / Min Zhou ; foreword by Alejandro Portes.  Philadelphia : Temple University Press, 2009.  310pp.  Main Library E184.C5 Z474 2009 : Sociologist Zhou provides a thorough overview of the integration of Chinese immigrants in the US. Her overall argument is that Chinese Americans face a paradox of assimilation in which becoming American involves becoming ethnic. Yet, Zhou is careful to illustrate that the making of ethnicity is a dynamic process that involves the intersections of culture and structure. Success in the labor market and education reinforces ethnic identity because the ethnic community is often the largest source of support against racism and other structural constraints for Chinese Americans. For instance, the ethnic enclave economy cushions the labor market incorporation of immigrants and ethnic community school programs buttress the mobility of youth. This book illustrates the diversity of integration paths taken by Chinese Americans by describing their various forms of spatial integration--ethnoburbs, ethnic enclaves, and mainstream neighborhoods. A welcome addition to immigration studies literature, the book makes an important contribution to Asian American studies, sociology, urban studies, and geography.

Conversations across our America : talking about immigration and the Latinoization of the United States / by Louis G. Mendoza.  Austin : University of Texas Press, 2012.  299pp.  Cesar Chavez (1 West) E184.S75 M453 2012 : In the summer of 2007, Louis G. Mendoza set off on a bicycle trip across the United States with the intention of conducting a series of interviews along the way. Wanting to move beyond the media’s limited portrayal of immigration as a conflict between newcomers and “citizens,” he began speaking with people from all walks of life about their views on Latino immigration. From the tremendous number of oral histories Mendoza amassed, the resulting collection offers conversations with forty-three different people who speak of how they came to be here and why they made the journey. They touch upon how Latino immigration is changing in this country, and how this country is being changed by Latinoization. Interviewees reflect upon the concerns and fears they’ve encountered about the transformation of the national culture, and they relate their own experiences of living and working as “other” in the United States....Mendoza’s collection is unique in its vastness. His subjects are from big cities and small towns. They are male and female, young and old, affluent and impoverished. Many are political, striving to change the situation of Latina/os in this country, but others are “everyday people,” reflecting upon their lives in this country and on the lives they left behind. Mendoza’s inclusion of this broad swath of voices begins to reflect the diverse nature of Latino immigration in the United States today.

Daily Life of the New Americans : Immigration Since 1965 / Christoph Strobel. Santa Barbara, Calif. : Greenwood, c2010.  168pp.  Main Library JV6455 .S95 2010  : This narrative reference text thematically explores the daily life experiences of immigrants to the United States arriving since the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. Aiming to make the work accessible to high school students and a general readership, Strobel (U. of Massachusetts) offers chapters on the diversity of immigrant communities and their migration stories; the economic positions and activities of immigrant communities; identity, family relations, intergenerational issues, and other issues of family life; the community life and culture of immigrants and interactions with the rest of society; issues of stereotyping and discrimination; and the impact of politics and policy on the daily life of immigrants.

Dead in their tracks : crossing America's desert borderlands in the new era / John Annerino ; photography and maps by the author.  Tucson : University of Arizona Press, c2009. 242pp. Main Library F786 .A57 2009 : It is America’s killing field, and the deaths keep mounting. As the political debate has intensified and demonstrators have taken to the streets, more and more illegal border-crossers die trying to cross the desert on their way to what they hope will be a better life....The Arizona border is the deadliest immigrant trail in America today. For the strong and the lucky, the trail ends at a pick-up on an Interstate highway. For far too many others, it ends terribly—too often violently—not far from where they began....Dead in Their Tracks is a first hand account of the perils associated with crossing the desert on foot. John Annerino recounts his experience making that trek with four illegal immigrants—and his return trips to document the struggles of those who persist in this treacherous journey. In this spellbinding narrative, he takes readers into the “empty quarter” of the Southwest to meet the migrant workers and drug runners, the ranchers and Border Patrol agents, who populate today’s headlines....Other writers have documented the deaths; few have invited readers to share the experience as Annerino does. His feel for the land and his knowledge of surviving in the wilderness combine to make his account every bit as harrowing as it is for the people who risk it every day, and in increasing numbers....The desert may seem changeless, but there are more bodies now, and Annerino has revised his original text to record some of the compelling stories that have come to light since the book’s first publication and has updated the photographs and written a new introduction and afterword. Dead in Their Tracks is now more timely than ever—and essential reading for the ongoing debate over illegal immigration.

The death of Josseline : immigration stories from the Arizona-Mexico borderlands / Margaret Regan. Boston, Mass. : Beacon Press, c2010. 221pp.  Chavez Collection (1 West) JV6456 .R44 2010 : Regan, a Tucson journalist, has compiled a compelling chronicle of the flow of migrants from northern Mexico into the “Tucson Sector” of Arizona, distilling the many facets of this phenomenon into an enlightening account. She focuses on one border crosser, 14-year-old Josseline Hernandez, who in January 2008, left with her younger brother in a group heading eventually to Los Angeles, where their mother was waiting. Ill from prolonged exposure, Josseline was left in the desert to die by her well-paid guide, or coyote. In exploring that death, and the nearly 1,600 other migrant deaths in the Arizona desert between 2001 and 2009, Regan interviews the Border Patrol, vigilantes, members of the human rights group No More Deaths, and Tohono O’odham tribal members, on whose land 83 bodies were found in 2007 alone. She also speaks with migrants, many of whom have tried multiple times to cross Arizona’s “killing field,” created when restrictions tightened around such border cities as El Paso. Regan doesn’t offer any solutions, but her brutally honest depiction should be read by those who will. --Deborah Donovan

Featured Books, E-K

Ellis Island and the peopling of America : the official guide / Virginia Yans-McLaughlin and Marjorie Lightman, with the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation ; designed by Hall Smyth.  New York : New Press : Distributed by W.W. Norton, c1997.  209pp.  Main Library JV6484 .Y35 1997 : Over three million people visit Ellis Island, the "Golden Door to America," every year. Ellis Island has become an invaluable resource center on immigration and genealogy as well as a national tourist attraction, widely praised for its excellent displays and informative exhibits. Now, the best of the Ellis Island Museum is available to readers everywhere from The Ellis Island-Statue of Liberty Foundation. Fascinating primary-source documents offer an exciting overview of Ellis Island, placing it in historical context with a concise history of immigration and global migration. This comprehensive guide is a must for anyone interested in immigration in general and Ellis Island in particular. Ellis Island: A Reader and Resource Guide includes * Entry interviews with immigrants * Descriptions of mental and physical health evaluations * Oral histories and memoirs of immigrants and immigration officers * Correspondence from the 1921 Commissioner of Immigration to the Secretary of Labor * Census information on immigrants * Photographs and prints from the 1800s to the present * Maps, charts, graphs, and political cartoons * Activities and topics for writing and discussion* A bibliography of related materials: books, videos, and CD-ROMs.

Ellis Island nation : immigration policy and American identity in the twentieth century / Robert L. Fleegler.  Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, [2013]  270pp.  Main Library JV6455 .F59 2013  : Though debates over immigration have waxed and waned in the course of American history, the importance of immigrants to the nation's identity is imparted in civics classes, political discourse, and television and film. We are told that the United States is a "nation of immigrants," built by people who came from many lands to make an even better nation. But this belief was relatively new in the twentieth century, a period that saw the establishment of immigrant quotas that endured until the Immigrant and Nationality Act of 1965. What changed over the course of the century, according to historian Robert L. Fleegler, is the rise of "contributionism," the belief that the newcomers from eastern and southern Europe contributed important cultural and economic benefits to American society. Early twentieth-century immigrants from southern and eastern Europe often found themselves criticized for language and customs at odds with their new culture, but initially found greater acceptance through an emphasis on their similarities to "native stock" Americans. Drawing on sources as diverse as World War II films, records of Senate subcommittee hearings, and anti-Communist propaganda, Ellis Island Nation describes how contributionism eventually shifted the focus of the immigration debate from assimilation to a Cold War celebration of ethnic diversity and its benefits--helping to ease the passage of 1960s immigration laws that expanded the pool of legal immigrants and setting the stage for the identity politics of the 1970s and 1980s. Ellis Island Nation provides a historical perspective on recent discussions of multiculturalism and the exclusion of groups that have arrived since the liberalization of immigrant laws.

Emigrating from China to the United States : a comparison of different social experiences / by Yushi (Boni) Li.  Springfield, Ill. : Charles C Thomas, 2010.  235pp.  Main Library HN59.2 .L5 2010 : In a supplementary textbook for an introductory sociology course, Li helps students associate experience in their daily lives with larger social forces, by using herself as a case study. She describes her own experience living in the US and China, and how events have influenced and impacted her social values, attitudes, and behavior. In general, she explains how she has been, and continues to be, resocialized and influenced by American and Chinese societies. Among the areas she discusses are society and social interaction, deviance, social stratification, race and ethnicity, sex and gender, family and family planning, religion, and urbanization.

Ethical borders : NAFTA, globalization, and Mexican migration / Bill Ong Hing. Philadelphia, PA : Temple University Press, c2010. 237pp.  Main Library JV6465 .H56 2010 : In his topical new book, Ethical Borders, Bill Ong Hing asks, why do undocumented immigrants from Mexico continue to enter the United States and, what would discourage this surreptitious traffic? An expert on immigration law and policy, Hing examines the relationship between NAFTA, globalization, and undocumented migration, and he considers the policy options for controlling immigration. He develops an ethical rationale for opening up the U.S./Mexican border, as well as improving conditions in Mexico so that its citizens would have little incentive to migrate. In Ethical Borders Hing insists that reforming NAFTA is vital to ameliorating much of the poverty that drives undocumented immigration and he points to the European Union's immigration and economic development policies as a model for North America. Hing considers the world-wide economic crisis and the social problems that attend labor migration into homogenous countries, arguing for a spectrum of changes, including stricter border enforcement and more effective barriers; a path to citizenship for undocumented migrants; or a guest worker program. Hing also situates NAFTA and its effects in the larger, and rapidly shifting, context of globalizationoparticularly the recent rise of China as the world's economic giant. Showing how NAFTA's unforeseen consequences have been detrimental to Mexico, Hing passionately argues that the United States is ethically bound to address the problems in a way that puts prosperity within the grasp of all North Americans.

For food and faith : Dutch immigration to western Michigan, 1846-1960 / Robert P. Swierenga, editor ; Joel Lefever, illustrations editor.  Holland, Mich. : Holland Museum and A.C. Van Raalte Institute, Hope College, 2000.  120pp.  Main Library E184.D9 F63 2000 

From every end of this earth : 13 families and the new lives they made in America / Steven V. Roberts.  New York : Harper, c2009.  323pp.  JV6456 .R63 2009 : New York Times bestselling author Steven V. Roberts follows the stories of thirteen immigrant families in From Every End of This Earth, a poignant and eye-opening look at immigration in America today. He captures the voices of those living the promise of a new land—and the difficulties of starting over among strangers whose suspicions increasingly outweigh their open-armed acceptance. As the political debate rages on, Roberts sheds light on the enormous contributions immigrants continue to make to the fabric and future of America.

From immigrants to Americans : the rise and fall of fitting in / Jacob L. Vigdor. Lanham, Md. : Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, c2009.  217pp.  Main Library JV6450 .V54 2009 : Vigdor offers a comprehensive analysis of American immigrants, spanning the period from 1850 to today. He shows how the varying economic situations immigrants come from have always played an important role in their assimilation.

Global connections and local receptions : new Latino immigration to the southeastern United States / edited by Fran Ansley and Jon Shefner.  Knoxville : University of Tennessee Press, c2009.  364pp.  Chavez Collection (1 West) F220.S75 G56 2009 : Ansley  and Shefner present a collection of 11 essays exploring dynamics of immigration in the United States, with a particular focus on Latino immigrants, labor markets, global economic change, and "new destinations," i.e. urban and rural places in the US that have only recently experienced significant demographic change as a result of Latino immigration. Specific topics include a Mexican perspective on the role of mass labor migration under the North American Free Trade Agreement; Tennessee as a new destination for Latino immigrants; policing and regulating workers and employers in the poultry industry; access to local housing and anti-immigrant backlash; regional and local trends of Latino migration and migrant experience in the US South; transnational organizing and guest workers in North Carolina; approaches to immigrant labor organizing in Nashville, Tennessee; and relations between African American and Latino immigrant workers in Memphis, Tennessee.

Illegal : life and death in Arizona's immigration war zone / Terry Greene Sterling.  Guilford, Conn. : Lyons Press, c2010.  241pp.  Main Library JV6483 .S74 2010 : Terry Greene Sterling enters the fearful ghettoes of Arizona, the gateway for nearly half of the nation's undocumented immigrants and the state that is the least welcoming toward them, to tell the stories of the men, women, and children who have crossed the border. She gets inside their homes, follows them to work, crosses the border with them, all to learn how the undocumented loves, works, plays, sins, fights and dies in the shadows. This book chronicles the untold narratives of the nearly invisible people who are the nation’s new face of immigration. It also examines the people trying to hunt them down, such as Phoenix Sheriff Joe Arpaio, famed for his roundups and mistreatment of the undocumented. In giving voice to these parties, ILLEGAL sheds new light on the nuances and dilemmas of a crisis that divides a nation. 

The immigrant war : a global movement against discrimination and exploitation / Vittorio Longhi ; translated from original Italian by Janet Eastwood.  Bristol : Policy Press, 2013.  156pp.  Main Library  JV6225 .L6613 2013 :

Immigrants in American history ; Arrival, Adaptation, and Integration  / Elliott Robert Barkan, editor.  Santa Barbara, Calif. : ABC-CLIO, 2012.  4 vols. 1931pp.  JV6450 .I5536 2013 : This encyclopedia is a unique collection of entries covering the arrival, adaptation, and integration of immigrants into American culture from the 1500s to 2010

The immigration crisis : nativism, armed vigilantism, and the rise of a countervailing movement / Armando Navarro.  Lanham, MD : AltaMira Press, c2009. 488pp.  Main Library JV6465 .N38 2009 : In this sobering volume, Navarro (Univ. of California, Riverside) argues that the US has experienced a number of immigration crises since the landing of the first European settlers as a result of capitalism and its concomitant need for cheap labor. The current crisis, Navarro argues, is exacerbated by the intensity and rapidity of globalization. The book opens by promising a current, comprehensive, and contentious analysis, and it does not disappoint. Beginning 30,000 years ago with migrants from Asia, the book moves quickly into the push-pull issues that provoked migration to what is now the US. The book focuses comprehensively on Mexican and, to some extent, Latin American migration. Navarro explores settlement conflicts between older and newer immigrant communities by analyzing immigration legislation and settlement policies, relations between nativist and advocacy organizations, and political contests. Navarro's voice as an advocate advances and sometimes detracts from his main argument. As a participant-observer, Navarro's lifetime activist experience in Chicano/Latino rights movements enlivens the text with rare insight, personal reflections, and primary source material from his own meeting notes. His voice as an advocate sometimes intrudes in the scholarly tone when advancing the historical time line.

Immigration in the United States / edited by William Dvorak. New York : H.W. Wilson Co., 2009. 191pp.  Main Library AC5 R4 v.81 no.4 : Contents include The golden door : immigration at the dawn of the 20th century. The great migration / John Elson ; The growth of a nation / Michael Barone ; A nation of immigrants / The Economist ; Immigration / Oscar Handlin ; Ghosts of freedom / Joe Baker -- An era of uncertainty : immigration from 1965 to today. The problem that refuses to leave / James W. Thomson ; The realities of immigration / Linda Chavez ; Latinos rise nationwide / A.R. Williams ; My life in the promised land / as told to Tamar Brott -- Stirring the melting pot : social and cultural change. The Peter principles / Peter Roff ; A tasty melting pot / Michelle Andrews ; Throwing all cultures into the marketing pot / Hillary Chura ; Movers & shakers / Joel Kotkin -- The challenge of assimilation. Becoming us / Alan Ehrenhalt ; Recasting the melting pot / Roberto Suro ; Hispanic immigrants seen as slow to assimilate into American society / Patrick McGee -- Building a fence : security and fear on the border. Life on the line / Philip Caputo ; Brownsville's bad lie / Arian Campo-Flores and Andrew Murr ; Keep out / Karen Olsson ; Return to sender / Daren Briscoe -- Opinions on immigration, legal and illegal. Immigration : the sleeping time bomb / Robert J. Bresler ; Give us still your masses-- / Jack Levin and Gordana Rabrenovic ; No human being is illegal / César Cuauhtémoc Garcéxia Hernández ; Society must stop giving benefits to illegal immigrants / Dimitrij Krynsky -- Federal policy and the future of immigration. U.S. helped create migrant flow / Erica Dahl-Bredine ; It starts in Mexico / Tim Padgett ; Who we are now / Jon Meacham.

Immigration : opposing viewpoints / Mary E. Williams, book editor.  San Diego, Calif. : Greenhaven Press, c2004.  206pp.  Main Library JV6483 .I5533 2004 : Presents varying opinions about the state of immigration in the United States, including restrictions on immigration, illegal immigrants, and problems incurred from our current policies.

Featured Books, L-Z

Latino immigrants in the United States / Ronald L. Mize and Grace Peña Delgado.  Cambridge : Polity Press, 2012.   194pp.  Main Library E184.S75 M59 2012 : This timely and important book introduces readers to the largest and fastest-growing minority group in the United States - Latinos - and their diverse conditions of departure and reception....A central theme of the book is the tension between the fact that Latino categories are most often assigned from above, and how those defined as Latino seek to make sense of and enliven a shared notion of identity from below. Providing a sophisticated introduction to emerging theoretical trends and social formations specific to Latino immigrants, chapters are structured around the topics of Latinidad or the idea of a pan-ethnic Latino identity, pathways to citizenship, cultural citizenship, labor, gender, transnationalism, and globalization. Specific areas of focus include the 2006 marches of the immigrant rights movement and the rise in neoliberal nativism (including both state-sponsored restrictions such as Arizona’s SB1070 and the hate crimes associated with Minutemen vigilantism).

Major Problems in American Immigration and Ethnic History : documents and essays / edited by Jon Gjerde. Boston : Houghton Mifflin, c1998. 486pp.  Main Library JV6450 .M36 1998 : This unique volume explores such themes as the political and economic forces that cause immigration; the alienation and uprootedness that often follow relocation; and the difficult questions of citizenship and assimilation.

Mass migration under sail : European immigration to the antebellum United States / Raymond L. Cohn.  New York : Cambridge University Press, 2009.  254pp.  Main Library E184.E95 C64 2009 : Emeritus economics professor Cohn has ventured into the world of immigration history to focus on Europeans who came to the US via sailing ships prior to steamships and the Civil War. This is a treacherous field, scattered with statistical contradictions and speculation. It is very difficult to engage readers in such studies, as graphs and numbers do not make for easy or fun reading, especially when they are often refuted. One saving grace will be the summaries concluding chapters 2-8. Chapter 2 on the European origins of emigration is dense and difficult to follow. Many immigration historians may be surprised to learn that Switzerland was a major point of departure for immigration, or that few Scandinavians emigrated by sail. Germans, the Irish, and the English are dominant during this period, as well as in the immediate postwar era. Since the statistical analyses are disputed throughout, readers may prefer to rely on US Census records. Advanced students and researchers may find useful information and challenges.

National insecurities : immigrants and U.S. deportation policy since 1882 / Deirdre M. Moloney.  Chapel Hill, N.C. : University of North Carolina Press, c2012.  315pp.  Main Library JV6483 .M645 2012 : For over a century, deportation and exclusion have defined eligibility for citizenship in the United States and, in turn, have shaped what it means to be American. In this broad analysis of policy from 1882 to present, Deirdre Moloney places current debates about immigration issues in historical context. Focusing on several ethnic groups, Moloney closely examines how gender and race led to differences in the implementation of U.S. immigration policy as well as how poverty, sexuality, health, and ideologies were regulated at the borders....Emphasizing the perspectives of immigrants and their advocates, Moloney weaves in details from case files that illustrate the impact policy decisions had on individual lives. She explores the role of immigration policy in diplomatic relations between the U.S. and other nations, and shows how federal, state, and local agencies had often conflicting priorities and approaches to immigration control. Throughout, Moloney traces the ways that these policy debates contributed to a modern understanding of citizenship and human rights in the twentieth century and even today.

A sociology of immigration : (re)making multifaceted America / Ewa Morawska.  Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. 290pp.  Main Library JV6475 .M67 2009 : "This study focuses on the interactive framework in which immigrants, responding to circumstances not of their choosing, nonetheless make history. Though the book is shaped by an underlying theoretical framework, the key theoretical issues are explored through a comparison of eight different groups, providing rich, empirical, grounded material. As the groups range widely in origins and immigrant experiences, they shed light on one of the salient aspects of the contemporary immigrant phenomenon, namely its diversity. The concluding chapter offers a thoughtful review of the main agendas of immigration research in different regions of the world followed by the author's suggestions regarding better-informed cross-national/regional studies in this field."

Stand together or fall apart : professionals working with immigrant families / Judith K. Bernhard.  Halifax, N.S. : Fernwood, 2012.  130pp.  Main Library JV6342 .B47 2012  :  An exploration of one of the most important topics debated across Western countries, this analysis challenges traditional attitudes toward immigration and integration. The traditional strategy employed by social workers, teachers, and other social service practitioners is decidedly Euro-centric and treats immigrants as if they have little cultural or community-based means of integrating of their own. The strategies outlined in this book are built on the argument that immigrants have deep cultural, familial and communal resources to aid their integration and that these resources need to be tapped by social workers, teachers, counselors, settlement workers, early childhood educators, and child and youth care workers alike. Providing several alternative, integrated, research-based programs that combine cultural resources, traditions and family dynamics, this accessible, concise book will help practitioners to better understand the struggles of immigrants and thus be better able to assist them as they adjust to life in a new country.

The sweetness of freedom : stories of immigrants / Stephen Garr Ostrander and Martha Aladjem Bloomfield.  East Lansing, Mich. : Michigan State University Press, c2010.  392pp.   Main Library F566 .O78 2010  (Also available online)  : Historian Stephen Garr Ostrander and museum curator Martha Aladjem Bloomfield present The Sweetness of Freedom: Stories of Immigrants, an anthology of firsthand testimonies of adapting to life in America by immigrants hailing from all over the world. People from Finland, the Netherlands, Korea, Iraq, Lebanon, Tanzania and more tell their stories - some of escaping from persecution, some of the drive to find the American dream, and some of just struggling to get by day by day. A handful of black-and-white photographs illustrates this compelling testimony of true-life stories, sure to engage and enrich readers of all backgrounds as well as offer an invaluable primary source to historians.

Taking local control : immigration policy activism in U.S. cities and states / edited by Monica Varsanyi.  Stanford, Calif. : Stanford University Press, 2010.  308pp.  Main Library JV6483 .T33 2010 : While state and local immigration policy activism in the U.S. has received widespread attention in the popular media, the scholarly literature has been dominated by studies of immigration policy at the federal level. This volume aims to fill the gap by offering perspectives from political scientists, legal scholars, sociologists, and geographers at the leading edge of this emerging field. Drawing on high profile case studies, the contributors seek to explain the explosion in state and local immigration policy activism, account for the policies that have been considered and passed, and explore the tensions that have emerged within communities and between different levels of government as a result....This timely entrant into the study of state and local immigration policy also illuminates the significant challenges and opportunities of comprehensive immigration reform, highlights the range of issues at stake, and charts a future research agenda that will more deeply explore the impacts of these policies on immigrant communities.

"Tough, fair, and practical" : a human rights framework for immigration reform in the United States / Alison Parker.  New York, NY : Human Rights Watch, c2010.  22pp.  Main Library JC599.U6 P385 2010 : Americans from all political perspectives agree that United States immigration laws need to be fixed. While some emphasize the need to be tough in enforcing immigration law, others emphasize the importance of fairness. International human rights law offers a practical framework embracing both of these policy goals that is in the interests of citizens and non-citizens alike. Tough, Fair, and Practical describes the human rights standards that should underpin any immigration reform legislation and makes practical recommendations to improve US law. The basic right to family unity, fair hearings, protection against arbitrary detention, workplace rights, and remedies for victims are enhanced for all persons in the United States if these rights are protected in immigration policy. While international human rights law recognizes every government's sovereign right to protect its borders, the pressure to achieve immigration reform cannot come at the cost of violating fundamental human rights

Transitions : Adjustment Strategies of American Immigrants / Marvin H. Shaub.  Lanham, Md. : University Press of America, c2009.  125pp.  Main Library JV6475 .S53 2009 : This book discusses the development of adjustment processes among succeeding cohorts of American immigrants as the country itself changed and grew.

True American : language, identity, and the education of immigrant children / Rosemary C. Salomone. Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 2010.  306pp.  Main Library LC3731 .S24 2010 : How can schools meet the needs of an increasingly diverse population of newcomers? Do bilingual programs help children transition into American life, or do they keep them in a linguistic ghetto? Are immigrants who maintain their native language uninterested in being American, or are they committed to changing what it means to be American?...In this ambitious book, Rosemary Salomone uses the heated debate over how best to educate immigrant children as a way to explore what national identity means in an age of globalization, transnationalism, and dual citizenship. She demolishes popular myths—that bilingualism impedes academic success, that English is under threat in contemporary America, that immigrants are reluctant to learn English, or that the ancestors of today’s assimilated Americans had all to gain and nothing to lose in abandoning their family language. ...She lucidly reveals the little-known legislative history of bilingual education, its dizzying range of meanings in different schools, districts, and states, and the difficulty in proving or disproving whether it works—or defining it as a legal right. ...In eye-opening comparisons, Salomone suggests that the simultaneous spread of English and the push toward multilingualism in western Europe offer economic and political advantages from which the U.S. could learn. She argues eloquently that multilingualism can and should be part of a meaningful education and responsible national citizenship in a globalized world.

Why immigrants come to America : braceros, indocumentados, and the migra / Robert Joe Stout.  Westport, Conn. : Praeger, 2008.  187pp.  Main Library HD8081.M6 S76 2008 : Stout plunges the reader into the social and political upheaval that the "immigration question" exerts on 21st century America. Personal encounters, conversations, interviews and newspaper accounts provide a vivid and accurate picture of indocumentado life, both in the workplace and at home. They highlight the successes and failures of immigrants, as well as the challenges and contradictions that those who pursue them and deport them face. He chronicles the effects of 60 years of political seesawing that has granted citizenship to over 3 million former Mexican nationals and left another 7 million in limbo. And in addition, he examines why six decades of surveillance, pursuit, raids, fences and deportations have only slightly altered, but not stemmed, the immigrant flow.

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