David A. Gerber

In this Very Short Introduction, David Gerber reveals how American life has been shaped in significant ways by immigration over more than two centuries. He discusses the relationships between race and ethnicity in the group lives of dozens of migratory peoples and in their positions within the larger society of which they became a part. He explains how immigration and naturalization law and policy have helped to form the place in American society of these immigrants.
By highlighting the parallels that contemporary patterns of immigration and resettlement share with those of the past, the book offers a hopeful analysis of current immigration and informs the debate about both illegal immigration and immigration law reform.