Is it time for America -- a country founded and forged by
immigrants -- to shut its doors? After decades of liberal policies
that welcomed ever greater numbers of immigrants, America is seeing
a surge in anti-immigration sentiment. Congressional debates,
polls, incidents of violence, and the growing strength of
anti-immigration groups all indicate a growing nativism. In
"Unwelcome Strangers, " David M. Reimers enters into the
emotionally charged immigration debate, looking at all sides of the
argument. Who are the nativists, and are any of their views
legitimate? This balanced investigation traces the history of
American attitudes toward immigration and offers a new perspective
on the current crisis.
The core of this book uncovers the heated arguments of the
anti-immigration forces, from environmental groups that warn
against the consequences of overpopulation, to economic concerns
that immigrants take jobs away from Americans, to assimilationist
fears that newcomers -- especially from Latin America, and Asia --
threaten American culture. Reimers questions these arguments while
acknowledging that pro-immigration forces hurt their position by
not considering whether the United States can actually absorb one
million immigrants a year. Reimers sees potential solutions in
English language instruction for newcomers, greater accountability
of sponsors, and government intervention to counterbalance the
negative economic impact some immigrants have on poor communities.
Reimers outlines the many bureaucratic and practical challenges
faced by the INS, from determining who gets political asylum to
screening applicants for criminal records.
Reimers charts the history of U.S. immigration policy and public
reaction to newcomers, from the Puritan colonists to World War II
refugees. The rise of nativism that began in the 1880s culminated
with the highly restrictive immigration policies of the 1920s.
Reimers shows how immigrant groups have historically been targeted
-- whether for ethnic, racial, or religious reasons. Quakers,
Catholics, and Jews were the focus of anti-immigrant sentiment as
were Germans, Irish, Italians, and Asians. This history of
prejudice throws light on later developments in immigration
history, such as the public response to the Cuban refugee crisis,
the growing proportion of Third World immigrants, and the
relationship between legal and illegal immigration, right up to the
battles over California's proposition 187 -- which proposed to
restrict public assistance for aliens and their children -- and
major congressional legislation passed in 1996 to deal with
immigration.
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