U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Laws and Issues: A Documentary History

The influx of millions of immigrants into the United States has profoundly impacted the nation’s economy, culture, and politics. Since the founding of our country, our government has worked to control this migration by enacting different policies to deal with immigration and naturalization. Students can trace the history and development of issues surrounding these policies, as well as the reactions to them, through this unique and comprehensive collection of over 100 primary documents. Court cases, opinion pieces, and many other documents bring to life the controversies surrounding the subject of immigration. Explanatory introductions aid users in understanding each document and help to illuminate its significance to the reader.

The major laws on immigration and naturalization are included in this useful volume, and have been edited to include the principal provisions in each, thereby making them more accessible to students without compromising their quality and accuracy. These key primary documents are arranged chronologically to help the user discover what has and has not changed over the centuries. The introductory and explanatory texts help readers understand the issues being litigated, the social and cultural pressures that shaped each deate, and the ways in which biases of individual Justices and Presidents affected immigration and naturalization laws in this country.