Book Description
This book traces the origins of the "illegal alien" in American law and society, explaining why and how illegal migration became the central problem in U.S. immigration policy--a process that profoundly shaped ideas and practices about citizenship, race, and state authority in the twentieth century.
Mae Ngai offers a close reading of the legal regime of restriction that commenced in the 1920s--its statutory architecture, judicial genealogies, administrative enforcement, differential treatment of European and non-European migrants, and long-term effects. In well-drawn historical portraits, Ngai peoples her study with the Filipinos, Mexicans, Japanese, and Chinese who comprised, variously, illegal aliens, alien citizens, colonial subjects, and imported contract workers. She shows that immigration restriction, particularly national-origin and numerical quotas, re-mapped the nation both by creating new categories of racial difference and by emphasizing as never before the nation's contiguous land borders and their patrol. This yielded the "illegal alien," a new legal and political subject whose inclusion in the nation was a social reality but a legal impossibility--a subject without rights and excluded from citizenship. Questions of fundamental legal status created new challenges for liberal democratic society and have directly informed the politics of multiculturalism and national belonging in our time.
Ngai's analysis is based on extensive archival research, including previously unstudied records of the U.S. Border Patrol and Immigration and Naturalization Service. Contributing to American history, legal history, and ethnic studies, Impossible Subjects is a major reconsideration of U.S. immigration in the twentieth century.
Customer Reviews:
The construction of the illegal immigrant and discriminatory US policies.......2006-12-01
The United States of America is the great melting pot of the world's immigrants, or is it? A white, middle-class, Protestant, European American lifestyle is what the great melting pot of American folklore was truly intended to articulate to the immigrants of the early 20th century. Mai Ngai counters this image of the US as the embracive playground of diverse immigrants and powerfully weaves the tale of how race, nationality, assimilation, and immigration all became interwoven concepts in overtly discriminatory US immigration policy of the mid-20th century in her newest book Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America. As Mae says, "The telos of immigrant settlement, assimilation, and citizenship has been an enduring narrative of American history, but it has not always been the reality of migrants' desires or their experiences and interactions with American society and state." (5)
Throughout the history of the United States, there has been a clear struggle to define who can gain citizenship in this great nation. Ngai's book attempts not to tackle this debate, but rather how the construction of the illegal immigrant came about because "the promise of citizenship applies only to the legal alien, the lawfully present immigrant. The illegal immigrant has no right to be present, let alone embark on the path to citizenship." (6) Her book begins in 1924 with the adoption of the Johnson-Reed Act which established numeric quotas for immigration from countries across the globe. Prior to the 1920s, immigration was relatively unrestricted as, "the free global movement of labor was essential to economic development in the New World." (17) Ngai points out that it is vital to note that this pre-Johnson Reed Act period did see the exclusion of Chinese laborers who migration disturbed the precious ideas of manifest destiny in the West. She stresses that the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was most important because the Supreme Court gave Congress absolute control over immigration as part of foreign relations.
Throughout her book, Ngai focuses on what she believes to be the two biggest consequences of the Johnson-Reed Act, the first being creation of the concept of illegal alien and the second being racially ranking the desirability for certain groups to immigrate to the United States. Perhaps the most powerful quote of the entire book goes, "Immigration restriction produced the illegal alien as a new legal and political subject, whose inclusion within the nation was simultaneously a social reality and a legal impossibility - a subject barred from citizenship and without rights." (4) Ngai points out that the irony of this newly created status is that the undocumented or illegal immigrants are woven into the economic fabric and labor market of our nation, and yet as they are cheap labor, they are disposable labor who can easily lose their ability to live in even the subhuman conditions in this oh so great nation.
Now that this new quota system was to be implemented, how would the country establish what the quotas would be for the varying countries of the world? Easy, they compared it to the approximate composition of the US population circa 1790, a clearly discriminatory and completely inaccurate and unreliable practice! As the rising popularity of eugenics was during this time period, there had been increased emphasis on census and racial definition and maintaining "racial hygiene". "Euro-American identities turned both on ethnicity - that is, a nationality-based cultural identity that is defined as capable of transformation and assimilation - and on racial identity defined by whiteness." (7) In this construction of the white American, those non-white, browner immigrants from Asia, Africa, and Mexico were deemed less desirable and lower class peoples who subsequently had a lower quota for the number of immigrants allowed. Ngai points to Mexicans as a changing population in regards to the immigration and whiteness policy of time, as originally they were deemed white as the need for immigrant farm workers was needed in the Southwest, but then subsequently deportation and repatriation of Mexicans and Mexican-Americans became the common practice.
Ngai wonderfully illustrates how as this period of quota-based immigration restrictions continued, the treatment of Filipinos, Mexicans, Chinese, and Japanese worsened to the extent of which no matter how long they or their families had been woven into the fabric of the US, they were viewed and abused as second-class foreigners. Ngai urges you to remember, these were systematic attempts at ranking races, excusing maltreatment, and elevating the political, economic, and racial status of white Euro-Americans, and not just subtle nuances of American policies. As the US struggled with its policies towards the Philippines, practices bounced back and forth from Filipinos being portrayed as being capable of "benevolent assimilation" but at the same time clearly of Asian ancestry and eventually was pushed towards independence and repatriation. As World War II arose, the massive discrimination and maltreatment that the Japanese and Chinese Americans endured only further reinforced their cultural ties to their home countries and therefore they were portrayed as disloyal citizens. In many cases these were actual citizens of the US, native-born patriotic people who had protected rights unlike those of their illegal immigrant counterparts. Ngai reminds us not to forget about the Cold War and the extreme measures that were taken to exclude Chinese people from immigration to the US and even participation as US citizens in order to protect us from evil communist China.
Ngai's phenomenal history comes to a close with the Immigration Act of 1965. Although this act overturned the racialized, discriminatory numeric quota system, it did sadly further extend the reach of numeric restrictions. For anyone who believes that racial hierarchy as part of US policy is a thing of the ancient past, for anyone who believes that African-Americans and their struggles for civil rights were the only systematically discriminated against population in recent US history, this is the book for you! Sit back and relax as Ngai takes you through this tremendously researched sensational tale of the United States and the construction of the illegal immigrant.
This book makes me want to hop the border to Canada.......2005-11-20
This book is truly awful. I don't know what her publisher was thinking by letting this book get out. The tone: Nasal. The language: Sociological jargon. The argument: Garbage. Save a tree and find something better.
Reframing immigration history.......2005-11-03
Mae Ngai's ambitious book compels historians and general readers alike to critically reassess traditional understandings of and approaches to U.S. immigration. Much of the histories on U.S. immigration and immigration policies have told a similar tale. The United States, the narrative goes, has been tainted by a long history of exclusion, a blight on the nation's democratic tradition that was only recently removed with the passage of the Immigration Act of 1965. Such a narrative not only reaffirms the myth of American universalism, but also consistently fails to produce any new critical knowledge about U.S. immigration and U.S. history. Impossible Subjects differs from these other works of immigration history in this important respect: it proceeds with the conviction that the United States was never a "nation of immigrants."
Ngai examines the era between 1924 and 1965, an unconventional periodization in immigration history that situates the 1924 Johnson-Reed Act (usually signifying the end of one regime) at the beginning of her study, and the Immigration Act of 1965 (usually signifying the beginning of another) at the end. Beyond simply filling a historiographical gap in immigration history, the focus on this period of immigration restriction enables a reevaluation of U.S. immigration laws, and more broadly of U.S history, on several levels. First, it demonstrates that restrictionist policies did not merely function as a tool for exclusion, but more, it created-through a racial and geographical remapping of the nation-new categories and concepts deeply implicated in race that defined the spaces and limits of national inclusion. Second, these categories and concepts, most notably "illegal aliens" and "national origins," are not natural or fixed conditions and markers, but are the product of positive law that, when scrutinized, reveal the ways in which its uses have shaped and defined the United States in the twentieth century, particularly its ideas and practices about race, citizenship, and the nation-state. Finally, this periodization allows for a reconfiguration of immigration history beyond a nationalist framework. By suggesting that the making of modern America rested on the exclusion of nonwhites from the geographical and ideological borders of the nation during this regime of restriction, the book argues against the normative telos of immigrant settlement, assimilation, and citizenship as the defining narrative of American history, a narrative that is confined to the nation-state and that invariably reproduces American exceptionalism.
By charting the historical origins of the "illegal alien" and the genealogy of immigration laws that have consistently reproduced it, Ngai has ultimately written a stunning history that goes far beyond narrating the history of U.S. immigration restriction. It is a book that deserves to be read widely.
The legally constructed "illegal aliens".......2004-07-04
IMPOSSIBLE SUBJECTS, written by Mae Ngai, is the best of recent books on the 20th-century American history of immigration. She reveals that the problem of "illegal immigrants," which has been regarded as one of the most serious problems since the late 20th century, is indeed a legal construction. According to the author, immigrants from Mexico were drawn into the U.S. Southeast because the Southeast political economy, especially agri-business, raised need for the massive wave of low-wage immigrant workers and at the same time defined them as the racially "foreign" people who were rendered alien to America, which was defined as the nation of Caucasians. What enabled the American Government and people to attach racialized foreignness to the Mexican immigrants (and, inevitably, American citizens of Mexican origin) were Immigration Acts, border policing, and discriminatory control of visas.
Mae Ngai argues that positive laws concerning immigration policy have constructed the category of "illegal aliens" from Mexico, and the implementation of the laws by Border Patrols and INS has reinforced the labeling of racially alien immigrants. She bases her analysis on the critical legal theory which suggests that laws constitute social formations. Her usage of the new legal theory in her inquiry into the American immigration history is highly excellent and persuasive.
The historical analysis of the immigration problems in this book seems to be applicable to other countries' history. For example, Ngai's insight shall give light to the recent Japanese conservative media discourses on the "illegal migrants" from China, South Korea, and Latin American nations which describe the undocumented migrant workers as illegal, criminal and, in case of women, prostitutes.
I would have dedicate five stars to this book if its text were easier to read (it is possible that I felt this book's text not very easy to read because I am not of a native-English tongue).
Book Description
Ready to move to the USA? Here's the insider's guide you need!
U.S. Immigration Made Easy covers every possible way to legally enter and live in the United States. The author explains how the immigration system really works, showing you how to qualify for:
*work visas *student visas *refugee status *green cards *citizenship *and more
Step-by-step instructions show how to fill out and file forms and how to approach the enormous USCIS bureaucracy.
Thoroughly updated and revised, the 12th edition covers the latest legislation, and provides new information to help you understand your rights and protect your applications from bureaucratic hassles. It also shows you where to find the most up-to-date forms you need on the Internet.
Download Description
Written by two expert immigration attorneys who have obtained legal entry for thousands of foreign nationals, U.S. Immigration Made Easy covers every possible way to legally enter and live in the United States. Attorneys Canter & Siegel explain how the U.S. immigration system really works, and show you how to qualify for: visas green cards citizenship Step-by-step instructions show how to fill out and file forms and how to approach the enormous INS bureaucracy. The 10th edition covers current topics, including tightened security and how it affects all visa and green card applicants, the "Child Status Protection Act," new requirements for J-1 visa holders, new work-permit opportunities and much more.
Customer Reviews:
Neat!.......2005-10-03
The book is new and was sent on time!!!
Great purchase!
A difficult process truly made easy!.......2005-03-06
I was so pleased when I stumbled across this book in my local library.
U.S. Immigration Made Easy is a godsend. It honestly has everything you'd ever want to know about every type of visa out there. It's all here, in black and white, and not in confusing legal mumbo jumbo. There is a section on each visa and its process, and at the end of each section there is a checklist with all the documents you would need. There is even an appendix of tear-out forms you can actually use. How convenient!
Organized, easy to read, and easy to understand, this book truly makes the tedious and frustrating process of immigration seem more doable and less overwhelming. Highly recommended.
US Immigration Made Easy.......2003-10-18
This book has been invaluable in dealing with my family's immigration needs. It gave great assistance in bringing both my parents and my grandparents into the country legally, without having to spend too much time with legal aid lawyers. My community has many people requiring this help and I have passed this book along to them. Thanks for this guide.
Invaluable Resource!.......2002-08-27
My husband was born in Pakistan and isn't a U.S. citizen. Due to September 11 and the unstable economy, we have decided to change his status. U.S. Immigration Made Easy has given us a lot of great pointers on the process and how to best fill out all the necessary forms and paperwork. This book has been a great find. I just bought 3 additional copies for my husband's family!
My reference book!.......2002-07-20
Well organized and written, with just enough information to bring all options to the attention of the reader. Easily read and referenced, and quite comprehensive in coverage. Rare will still be the cases in which one can really do away with counsel, but it will make one a better informed client. I particularily liked inserts on new legislation and policies (helped me guide my own process), explanations on rights and obligations associated with each status, and the exhaustively explained steps and paperwork associated with the process. All editions so far have had upgrades to stay current with the ever changing policies and INS quirk "du jour". Although I do own several older editions, I typically make a point of getting a new edition every couple of years, in order to stay current on my rights as a foreigner in the US.
Book Description
In Americans in Waiting, Motomura discovers in our national past a simple yet powerful approach to immigration and citizenship. Rewriting the conventional story, Motomura uncovers how for over 150 years, many immigrants were immediately put on track to U.S. citizenship. They were entitled to overseas diplomatic protection and eligible to homestead land on the western frontier. Citizens-to-be were even allowed to vote. In sum, immigration was assumed to be a transition to citizenship, and immigrants were future citizens--Americans in waiting. Once central to law and policy, this view has all but vanished. Beginning in the early twentieth century, the United States began to treat its immigrants in one of two ways: as signatories to a contract that sets the terms of their stay in this country, or as affiliates who can earn rights only as they become, over time, enmeshed in the nation's life. Immigration is now seen too often as a problem to be solved, rather than a pillar of our nation's strength. A panoramic history of the past 200 years of immigration and citizenship in the United States, Americans in Waiting offers a clear lesson: only by recovering this lost history of immigration can we ensure that both current and future citizens share in the sense of belonging that is crucial to full participation in American life.
Customer Reviews:
history must be understood.......2007-08-10
more people should read this well written piece of non fiction. the trouble is that few of our generation honestly know the details about America and rely on the telegraphic info of Fox news instead of gaining true knowledge.
Book Description
A New York Times bestseller, the groundbreaking authoritative history of the migration of African-Americans from the rural South to the urban North. A definitive book on American history, The Promised Land is also essential reading for educators and policymakers at both national and local levels.
Customer Reviews:
Worthy but not about what the title says.......2007-09-12
This is a well written interesting book presenting information vital to understanding contemporary America. At the same thime this is only indirectly a book about the Great Black Migration. Rather it is about policies at the federal level, especially the collage of programs called the "war on poverty" and how they relate to American society in the 1960s and 1970s with examples from several African Americans from the Clarksdale Mississippi area who migrated to Chicago, several of them returning to Clarksdale.
One of the most valuable parts of the book--and well-written-is the description of the changes that went on in the 1940s with mechanism of agriculture that led to the migration--cotton got picked and then weeded mechanically the army of cotton field hads who had been the most important segment of the African American population was no longer needed in the South. This is one of the best and most practical explanations of this, especially as he focuses on Clarksdale Mississippi and the surrounding area. He gives a good history of the evolution of the cotton crop in the area and the evolution of Black society, providing examples in the lives of several people.
To me this is quite useful because one of my chief focuses is the history of the Blues. Clarksdale --the big town near where Muddy Waters, Ike Turner, Robert Johnson, John Lee Hooker, Elmore James, Son House, Charlie Batton, and so many other Blues singers came from--is central to the history of the Delta Blues. Knowing the social and economic conditions that existed there is quite useful for music scholars who can profit from this part of the book.
Lemann is pretty good in descripting the way the plantation system broke up families and how the immigration to Chicago impacted several different Clarksdale folk who travelled up to Chicago. He charts their stories getting into Chicago in the 1940s and early 1950s fairly well.
Once he does this, there is an abrupt shift. He tries to chart the various conflicts in the Kennedy and Johnson administration about dealing with the Black urban problems, the rebellions, and poverty, which is really an aside from discussing Black migration. In this regard as he used Clarksdale as an example, he uses Chicago where all of his people from Clarksdale have migrated. I would imagine that the intimate detail that he goes into regarding the inside debates on forming the poverty programs and the infighting between Johnson and Kennedy factions of the Democratic party over it and the way the Daley machine in Chicago related to all of this is of interest to many people. It was told in such a way that even though I am not interested in it, it was interesting though not absorbing.
He presents the end result of the programs is that they never did anything but create a larger base for the Black middle and upper middle class among administrators of these programs and other public functionary jobs. In the 1960s, many of us who fought for a perspective for Black people independent of the Republicans and Democrats pointed out that this was the actual purpose of the programs, not to end poverty, but to encorporate political activists who might otherwise be drawn into the struggle for the interests of Black people into the apparatus of the government and into the feeding ground to become part of the Democratic and Republican parties and corporate America.
Lemann is good at showing the failure of these programs and the hell they produced for Black working folk like the subjects of his story, but he rarely steps back and examines the larger question of the way society as a whole functions.
If American capitalist society persistently creates a large army of poor African Americans, now supplemented by millions of equally poor or poorer workers without papers with even less rights, is this not something reqired by the system. Is this not a damper of the attempts of all working people for better working conditions, better wages, better social programs in education, health, and the environment. Is this not a feeding ground for the racist ideas that nourish acceptance of this society. Is this not a way of stopping social solidarity among working folks.
Again, I expected an overall history of the migration covering the whole of the nation in the 20th Century. This is not that book, but an extremely readable book giving very good case studies of how the Southern cotton plantation system worked, how it ended, and a history of the war on poverty in the 1960s and early 1970s. In passing, he provides some stories of African Americans women and men who lived through this history.
Recommended by a conservative talk show host.......2007-02-09
Years ago, on the recommendation of a black conservative talk show host, I read this book. While I could understand how this man could read a corroboration of his own views into this book, the conclusions I drew were considerably more compassionate. This historical analysis does not propose solutions as much as illustrate and analyze the issues of ascendancy from slavery.
Great read with valuable insights on US history.......2006-11-02
As an historic account, The Promised Land contains many interesting personal anecdotes hung on the framework of a much broader social picture that make the book an engaging and informative read. Although the book covered many different characters, which made it hard to follow at times, each one had a valuable contribution to make to Lemann's work in portraying for his readers the society and factors that influenced migration amongst the black population in the middle of the 20th century. I think Lemann could be criticized for focusing too much on the political sparring during the chapter on Washington, which digresses from the book's topic of black migration and adds little relevant information. I also think that while Lemann's relating of the personal lives of black migrants has the advantage of being engaging, it has the disadvantage of perhaps being too personal. In other words, the experiences of the individuals he elects to interview and record may not accurately relate the average experience for a migrant. I think that to carry more weight, the stories must be compared to some sort of statistical data to show that they correlate to the norm. I felt the writing was eloquent yet easily readable. I gained a much greater understanding of two areas of history of the United States of which I had little prior knowledge: the life of African-Americans in the Civil Rights era and the domestic influences of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations in focusing on poverty amongst the black minority.
Terrific reading.......2006-06-28
For someone who has just visited the delta area of Mississippi and actually traversed some of the hollow grounds of the plantations all thru the Clarksdale area, this was accurate,enjoyable and fascinating reading.
outstanding book........2000-07-04
This was an excellent combination of conveying historical fact with painting the picture by telling the stories of several people and families who lived the history. A fascinating period in history and a great read.
Customer Reviews:
Different debates over immigration.......2007-07-03
The editor of this book presents several different authors' viewpoints about immigration into the United Stares. many people of diferent backgrounds are presented here and compelling statements are made, discussing the ramifications of this hot topic right now.
Easy to read and learn about immigration.......2002-10-22
I'm a college student and was asked to read this book for one of my classes. Going into reading this book, I knew absolutely nothing about the history of immigration, the details of the legislation, or the problems our nation is facing.
The first thing that makes this book stand out from other similar books I have been reading for this course is that the book is organized. There are 11 articles by various authors and Mills does a great job in splitting these articles up into 5 categories.
Every article was easy to read and understand. There were many times when I would get so into a story that I didn't want to put the book down until I finished it. Mills did a great job in selecting articles that didn't just pour facts and statistics at you.
The most important thing I enjoyed about this book is that Mills did not take a side. The book contained articles that were for immigration, against immigration, and some articles that were neutral. I did not feel like I was being pulled in one direction with this book. Through these articles, the reader is left to decide whether he or she believes immigration is a good thing.
Immigration is a very big topic, but Mills did a great job in discussing almost every aspect of immigration in a very unbiased way.
Great introductory book to immigration..........2000-02-20
This text is a composition of short essays that lends insight into one of the most controversial issues of today. It provides the framework for a heated debate by arguing various perspectives of immigration. It's a quick read (not dry at all!), informative, interesting and succinct. Highly recommended for those who know very little about the controversy surrounding immigration and would like to catch up.
Book Description
Grossman's rich, detailed analysis of black migration to Chicago during World War I and its aftermath brilliantly captures the cultural meaning of the movement.
"A vivid portrayal of an archetypical modernizing experience—peasants pulling up roots, moving to distant cities, and seeking to adapt to the strange new world of industrial capitalism."—George M. Fredrickson, Times Literary Supplement
Customer Reviews:
This is the best on the subject.......2005-03-23
As a fellow researcher in the area of Southern to Northern migration, Grossman's book has been invaluable to me. It is well written, well researched, and immensely interesting. It is the best book on the first great black Southern migration to Chicago, "The Land of Hope."
Book Description
Since the first three documented Chinese arrived in this country in 1848, more than six million Asians have followed. The huge immigrations of recent years have prompted a surge of interest in the new Asian American experience, about which little writing exists to date. In Asian Americans, these immigrants and their families present their own stories--why they came to America and what it means to be Asian in America today.
Customer Reviews:
As if Studs Terkel met Asian America.......2001-04-22
Studs Terkel meets Asian America. The author, affiliated with Queens College at the time the book was compiled, records oral histories from first through fourth generation Asian Americans from China, Cambodia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Japan, and Pacific Islands. (Chinese immigrants began to officially arrive in 1848; they were not allowed to apply for citizenship until 1943. Japanese and Koreans were not allowed citizenship until 1952; Filipinos and Asian Indians beat them by six years) These histories are grouped into three major section: Living In America; Americanization; and Refections on Interracial Marriage. In "Living In America", selections include Will Hao on being a true Hawaiian, and Andrea Kim on being born and raised in Hawaii, but not being Hawaiian. Sam Sue, a Chinese American lawyer, talks about growing up bitterly in Clarksdale Mississippi during a time of segregation. The Americanization section includes stories of escape and exodus, the bumpy road of acculturation, 3 stories just on run-ins with traffic cops (driving while Asian), and over 9 stories on Americanization, racism, tension, being Asian versus being American, and even on being a minority within a minority. Cao O discusses life as an ethnic Chinese in Vietnam and being Chinese-Vietnamese in America and dealing with social service agencies in Chinatown that is staffed by Hong-Kong born Chinese. In "No Tea, Thank You", Setsuko K. discusses the subtleties between the generations, such as politeness and their hidden meanings (when "no" means "yes", and "yes" means "no"). In a sub-section of nine stories about family, Cao O discusses the idea of `obligation', while Hideo K talks about the "Company as Friend". Tony Ham discusses Mah-Jonng as a family social focus. In a sub-section on religion, there is an interesting piece on Koreans and church membership. In one of eight stories on "Interracial Marriage", Jody Sandler writes talks about "So He's Not a Jewish Doctor", in which a 23 year old Woodmere Long Island Five Town girl marries an Asian America and faces pressures from family and friends, and contrasts Tony's values with those she grew up with in Five Towns.
Profound study of Asian-Americana.......2001-02-24
This book by Joann Lee is an excellent book on Asian-Americans. It tells the life stories of Asian-Americans without so much stereotypical baggage found elsewhere.
It shows Asian-Americans as people. Instead of the shallow, stereotypical views found in the movies, it gave me a deeper view of what it feels like and means to be a person of Asian descent living in America. And it does so honestly. It gives the reader a view into a very intimate but often overlooked part of life in America.
I recommend this to all who are interested in this topic.The book reads well and easily.
Enjoy!
Asain Americans: An OrAl History.......2000-03-31
An excellent overview of what it is to be Asian American in America today. Joann Lee writes beautifully and puts you in touch with the individual struggles and victories of her subjects. A must read.
Honest Look in Asian American Culture.......2000-03-20
This book provided many personal accounts of Asian Americans. The people and their experiences are very different from one another, but they are all considered as one category 'Asian American' perhaps because of similar social problems they've encountered living in america. The accounts portrayed truthfuly, and give an honest look at racism and prejudice, and the complexity of the issue. very inspiring
Average customer rating:
- don't know where to start? get this book first
- good, basic overview of immigration and naturalization law
- Informative and easy to read
- Concise and indispensable
- Immigration review
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U.S. Immigration & Citizenship, Revised 2nd Edition: Your Complete Guide (U.S. Immigration & Citizenship)
Allan Wernick
Manufacturer: Prima Lifestyles
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0761517154
Release Date: 1999-03-03 |
Amazon.com
It's rarely easy to deal with federal bureaucracy, but few tasks are as complicated and fraught with potentially irreparable errors as attempting to immigrate to the United States. If immigrating isn't a matter of life or death, that is, if you have a few days or weeks to do the research that will significantly improve your chances of getting what you want, Allan Wernick's U.S. Immigration & Citizenship is the place to start. Wernick is a professor, lawyer, and immigration-law expert, and his readable chapters will tell you what might help, or hurt, your application, how to obtain and extend a visa, and what you have to gain, or lose, by applying for citizenship. It also addresses the needs of employers, telling them how to stay out of trouble with the law, and highlights new Web pages that cover the ever-changing rules and links concerning immigration.
Section I is all about getting a green card. It discusses family-based visas and permanent residence based on work, talent, or investment, as well as lottery green cards, whether lawyers help your lottery chances, and what INS risks might be involved in entering the lottery. Wernick further covers potential obstacles to permanent residence, and how best to go about the immigrant-visa application process. Section II takes the next step, launching into naturalization and citizenship. Wernick writes about the risks of pursuing naturalization, its requirements (physical presence, good moral character, English competence, etc.), and how to go about applying. Other sections go into nonimmigrant visas (student visas, temporary professional workers', and the like), refugee and asylum rules, and employer sanctions, with attention to both employer obligations and employee rights.
The guide is full of case histories that help illustrate and personalize the rules, and it's enhanced with practical appendices loaded with resource agencies, state-by-state addresses, Web sites, and e-mail addresses, plus a list of 100 questions posed by INS naturalization examiners, and the answers they expect. --Stephanie Gold
Book Description
You can become a permanent resident in the United States—or even a citizen! You (and your loved ones) can come here to work, study, or visit. But it won't be easy to qualify; so the more you know about it, the better your chances are.
Here you have the expert advice of a top immigration lawyer at your fingertips. He not only shows you how to take shortcuts to speed up the process but also how you can avoid the traps that can block your way.
Inside you'll find dozens of practical tips and examples, including:
• The easiest way to get and extend your visa
• Things that help—and hurt—your application
• An extensive guide to Internet resources on immigration law
• When you need a lawyer (and when you don't)
• Comprehensive nationwide listing of immigration assistance agencies
• Rules and rights for workers and employers
• Interview questions and answers used by INS examiners
• How much English you need to know
• Samples of the forms you need with step-by-step directions on filling them out
• And much more!
You won't just learn the rules of the immigration "game"—you'll learn how to win with this invaluable, easy-to-read reference guide.
About the Author
Allan Wernick is a nationally recognized attorney and expert on immigration law and procedure. His weekly column on immigration law appears in the New York Daily News.
Customer Reviews:
don't know where to start? get this book first.......2005-11-15
I'd recommend this book to anyone who's about to file an immigration petition or need a crash course in the complex immigration law. When I worked on my first petition to adjust status, I used multiple dictionaries and needed a legal advice (and had to take the day off to recover). The language of the INS forms is hardly comprehensible to a native speaker and now imagine somebody with only a basic understanding of the language trying to wade through the lingo of the INS forms -- a nightmare. Well, I got smart and bought Wernick's book for my next petitions and I was able to do it all by myself. Now, I am often checking for updates to the book on Prof. Wernick's
website and his new
blog .
good, basic overview of immigration and naturalization law.......2001-08-01
This book provides a good, solid overview of immigration law. It is not an overly-detailed guide that addresses every possible nuance of immigration law. Rather, it discusses the basics, the terminology, the myriad avenues through which which a foreigner can gain legal residence in the US. This book would be a good starting point for someone wishing to immigrate to the United States, for an alien residing in the US who wishes to become a US citizen, or for an employer seeking to bring immigrants into its work force. There are many anecdotal examples, which make the book easy to read. This book may not answer all of your questions within its pages, but it will give you enough background information so that you know how to ask the right targeted questions of the INS or an immigration lawyer.
Informative and easy to read.......2001-01-28
This 2nd edition would appear to reflect INS rule and fee changes in the last couple of years. The book covers all facets of immigrating to the United States from the different categories of VISAs to Permanent Residence and Naturalization. It is somewhat like a condensed version of INS law written in plain English. For clarity, the author backs up every major point pertaining to a given aspect of immigration/naturalization procedures and rules with a real-life example. The less one knows about immigration/naturalization laws, the more helpful this book will be. Conversely, if one is familiar with INS procedures and is looking for specific information above and beyond the basics, chances are it won't be found here. However, the book contains a section listing many helpful websites covering immigration law and policy.
Concise and indispensable.......2000-12-21
Help with one of the most complex issues many people have in dealing with our government is always needed. When that help comes from a well respected source in an easy to follow style it is a godsend. I can't even explain how many hours this book saved me.
Immigration review.......2000-01-05
Good book, but almost no help with the appeal process. Should tell you how to appeal, who to talk to to do it, do you need a lawyer etc? But almost nothing about that very important area. Also nothing on how to request a deportation hearing, and/or what to say/do when you are in it.
Book Description
In this powerful and disturbing book, Rogers Smith traces political struggles over U.S. citizenship laws from the colonial period through the Progressive era and shows that throughout this time, most adults were legally denied access to full citizenship, including political rights, solely because of their race, ethnicity, or gender.
Customer Reviews:
A REAL HISTORY.......2001-02-14
Civic Ideals is a book every american should read.Prof.Smith has demonstrated clearly how trough history the United States have had diferents meanings about the citizenship.In the case of Puerto Rico-the last colony of the world-we the Puerto Ricans have a second-class citizenship.The author sumarize very well our case with the insular cases and Balzac vs. People of Puerto Rico.Also Smith analize the legal debate in the Harvard Law Review,but do not mention the Yale Law Journal(Adams,Elmer B.,"The Causes and Results of Our War with Spain from a legal Standpoint."VII(1899),pag.119 and Parker,Le Roy,"The Constitution of Porto Rico",X (1901),pag.136.)and Columbia Law Review;Fuller,Paul,"Some Constitutional Questions Suggested by Recent Acquisitions"I(1901),pag.108).For people who want to know the real constitutional history of The United States this book is excellent.Is one of my favorites books.
A little dry.......2000-06-08
This is one of the few books that I have started and then quit part way through. I had to force myself to continue reading after about page 50 and then quit at 200. It was very dry content and read too much like a doctoral dissertation. In addition, assumptions were made about the readers knowledge of court cases related to civic rights.
A little dry.......2000-06-08
This is one of the few books that I have started and then quit part way through. I had to force myself to continue reading after about page 50 and then quit at 200. It was very dry content and read too much like a doctoral dissertation. In addition, assumptions were made about the readers knowledge of court cases related to civic rights.
Book Description
This interdisciplinary collection brings together essays on the cultural effects of globalization at the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada borders. Artists, activists, and scholars from American Studies, anthropology, Chicano studies, English, folklore, history, and political science examine a wide range of cultural practices in border areas, including cross-border shopping, migration, and transnational media spectatorship. Contributors focus on a variety of border crossers and residents, such as Mexican migrants in the American Southwest, indigenous peoples in the Lake Ontario region, undocumented Chinese immigrants at the U.S.-Canada border, environmental groups in Arizona, NAFTA-displaced women laborers in Texas, squatter communities in Baja California, and maquiladora workers in Chihuahua.
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