This book argues that although labor market needs have been an important element in the development of immigration policy, they have been filtered through a political process: the politics of immigration. It is this process that drives immigration policy in each country. By exploring the relation between policy and politics in France, the UK, and the US, three countries that have both welcomed and severely restricted immigrant entry during different periods, this book helps to show how this goes far beyond labor market needs. Cross-nationally, these policies have been influenced by considerations of race, domestic ideas of what constitutes national identity, citizenship, naturalization, urban policy, housing, and education.

Updated through 2012 with all-new material in every chapter, Schain's book provides a detailed, comparative look at the policies that drive and inform immigration politics in three Western countries, and shows how immigration policy has political sources far beyond labor market needs.

This book argues that although labor market needs have been an important element in the development of immigration policy, they have been filtered through a political process: the politics of immigration. It is this process that drives immigration policy in each country. By exploring the relation between policy and politics in France, the UK, and the US, three countries that have both welcomed and severely restricted immigrant entry during different periods, this book helps to show how this goes far beyond labor market needs. Cross-nationally, these policies have been influenced by considerations of race, domestic ideas of what constitutes national identity, citizenship, naturalization, urban policy, housing, and education.