Martin - A Nation of Immigrants

Immigration makes America what it is and is formative for what it will become. America was settled by three different models of immigration, all of which persist to the present. The Virginia Colony largely equated immigration with the arrival of laborers, who had few rights. Massachusetts welcomed those who shared the religious views of the founders but excluded those whose beliefs challenged the prevailing orthodoxy. Pennsylvania valued pluralism, becoming the most diverse colony in religion, language, and culture. This book traces the evolution of these three competing models of immigration as they explain the historical roots of current policy debates and options. Arguing that the Pennsylvania model has best served the country, the final chapter makes recommendations for future immigration reform. Given the highly controversial nature of immigration in the United States, this book provides thoughtful, well-reasoned analysis that will be valuable to both academic and policy audiences for the ways it places today's trends and policy options into historical perspective.

Susan F. Martin holds the Donald G. Herzberg Chair in International Migration and serves as the Director of the Institute for the Study of International Migration in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Dr. Martin also directs the university's Program on Refugees and Humanitarian Emergencies. Previously, she served as the Executive Director of the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform, established by legislation to advise Congress and the president on U.S. immigration and refugee policy. Her publications include Refugee Women ; The Uprooted ; Beyond the Gateway (ed.); Managing Migration : The Promise of Cooperation ; MexicoU.S. Migration Management (ed.); Women, Migration and Conflict: Breaking a Deadly Cycle (ed.); and numerous monographs and articles on immigration and refugee policy. Dr. Martin earned her MA and PhD in the history of American civilization from the University of Pennsylvania and her BA in history from Douglass College, Rutgers University. She is the immediate past president of the International Association for the Study of Forced Migration and serves on the U.S. Comptroller General's Advisory Board, the Academic Advisory Board of the International Organization for Migration, and the Board of the Advocacy Project.

The United States is in the midst of its fourth major wave of immigration. Today's wave is the largest in absolute numbers, although not as a proportion of the total population. Unlike in previous waves, today's immigrants come from every inhabited continent and represent just about every country in the United Nations. As in previous waves, there is a profound ambivalence about immigration among the American public. Historically, Americans have seen their own immigrant forebears through rose-colored glasses while raising serious concerns about the contributions of current immigrants and the extent to which they will assimilate our values, language, and experiences.