Immigration: A Civil Rights Issue for the Americas - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0842027750 ISBN 13: 9780842027755

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1998

Synopsis

Public policy on immigration will be central to determining the form and character of U.S. society in the twenty-first century. The political Right has so far seized the initiative in defining the parameters of the discussion, in effect limiting national debate to choosing between degrees of restrictionism. Immigration: A Civil Rights Issue for the Americas fills a gap in existing literature on immigration by providing a variety of perspectives among those who agree that immigrants have rights, but may differ about how to assert those rights. First published in the quarterly journal Social Justice in 1996, these essays are written by some of the most notable scholars in the area of immigration. This volume will be valuable for classroom use and beyond because of the readable and accessible style of the articles. The 13 contributions to this new book are refreshingly progressive interventions into the national debate on immigration. They agree that divergent approaches exist among progressives and that such differences must be examined. Calling upon that which is best in the democratic heritage of the U.S., this collection challenges the historic and ongoing civil rights struggle to adopt a global perspective that includes the civil rights of all immigrants, whether documented or undocumented. In addition, the book takes on issues that are relevant to everyday realities in most communi-ties throughout the U.S. Immigration: A Civil Rights Issue for the Americas is ideal for courses on 20th-century American history, immigration, sociology, political science, and other social sciences.

About this title

Review:

An impressive group of authors from a number of different disciplines--sociology, anthropology, political science, and law--provide reasoned, clearly written, and courageous positions promoting a progressive agenda on immigration. Topics include human rights, open borders, immigrant-native social relations, and immigrant contributions to the economy and society. While not everyone will agree with the authors' arguments, the book succeeds because of its lucid presentations and compelling empirical examples. This book will be used widely in classrooms as a source of information and to provoke debate on important societal issues related to immigration.--Leo R. Chavez, University of California, Irvine

This timely and extremely valuable collection of original essays will soon be recognized as a seminal work on U.S. immigration policy. Consistently well-written and provocative studies integrate the distrubingly regressive U.S. policy resonse to contemporary immigration. The authors make explicit how democratic discourse and practice are eroded by a virulent anti-immigrant policy.--Pedro A. Cabàn, Rutgers University

The essays are interesting and thought-provoking.--Multicultural Review

From the Publisher:

An enlightening text on immigration
Public policy on immigration will be central to determining the form and character of U.S. society in the twenty-first century. The political Right has so far seized the initiative in defining the parameters of the discussion, in effect limiting national debate to choosing between degrees fills a gap in existing literature on immigration by providing a variety of perspectives among those who agree that immigrants have rights, but may differ about how to assert those rights. First published in the quarterly Social Justice in 1996, these 13 readable and accessible essays are written by some of the most notable scholars in the area of immigration.

The contributions to this new book are refreshingly progressive interventions into the national debate on immigration. They agree that divergent approaches exist among progressives and such differences must be examined.

Calling upon that which is best in the democratic heritage of the U.S., this collection challenges the historic and ongoing civil rights struggle to adopt a global perspective that includes the civil rights of all immigrants, whether documented or undocumented. In addition, the book takes on issues that are relevant to everyday realities in most communities throughout the U.S.

This book focuses on the problem of immigration from the perspective that, despite the fact that states claim the sovereign right to control their borders, migrants who cross borders bring inalienable rights with them.

About this edition

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0842027750
• ISBN 13: 9780842027755
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224
• Editor: Jonas Susanne, Thomas Suzie Dod