Nativism and Immigration: Regulating the American Dream (New Americans: Recent Immigration and American Society)

226 Pages·2006·0.76 MB·English

by  Brian N. Fry

The New Americans
Recent Immigration and American Society

Edited by
Steven J. Gold and Rubén G. Rumbaut

A Series from LFB Scholarly
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Nativism and Immigration
Regulating the American Dram

Brian N. Fry

LFB Scholarly Publishing LLC
New York 2007
Copyright © 2007 by LFB Scholarly Publishing LLC

All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Fry, Brian N.
Nativism and immigration : regulating the American dream / Brian N.
Fry.
p. cm. -- (The new Americans: recent immigration and American
society)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-59332-193-7 (alk. paper)
1. United States--Emigration and immigration--Government policy. 2.
Immigrants--Government policy--United States. 3. Nativism. I. Title.
JV6483.F78 2007
325.73--dc22

2006025694

ISBN 1-59332-193-7

Printed on acid-free 250-year-life paper.

Manufactured in the United States of America.
Table of Contents

LIST OF TABLES vii
LIST OF FIGURES vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ix

CHAPTER 1
What is Nativism?........................................................................ 1
CHAPTER 2
Theorizing Nativism: A Survey of Interpretations....................... 9
CHAPTER 3
A Brief History of American Nativism........................................ 35
CHAPTER 4
Nativism and the Politics of Immigration Reform....................... 71
CHAPTER 5
Restrictionist Discourse............................................................... 111
CHAPTER 6
Expansionist Discourse................................................................ 145
CHAPTER 7
Nativism and the Circle of We..................................................... 179

REFERENCES............................................................................ 191
INDEX......................................................................................... 213
v
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List of Tables

TABLE 1 Research Sample Attributes.................................. 76
TABLE 2 Select List of Immigration Organizations............. 79

List of Figures

FIGURE 1 Continuums of Consideration and Interest in
Immigration Politics.................................................................... 3

vii
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Acknowledgements

I am grateful for the expertise and guidance of my editors, Drs. Rubén
G. Rumbaut and Steve J. Gold. Rubén encouraged me to reconsider
my earlier work on American nativism in light of September 11th and
the ever-expanding literature on immigration and immigrant policy, the
subjects on which I cut my first sociological teeth. His sociological
acumen has shaped and sharpened my understanding of “native”
responses to resident and prospective foreigners in the United States.
He is also a library on legs, able to recall pertinent articles, books, facts
and arguments faster than today’s search engines. (It is my belief that
the search engines will never catch up.)
Special thanks to M.E. Sharpe for permission to adapt and reprint
sections of my earlier work from the Encyclopedia of American
Immigration: Nativist Reaction, vol. 1, 137-143; Restrictive
Legislation, vol. 1, 150-155; Anti-Immigrant Backlash, vol. 1, 229-232;
Anti-Immigrant Politics, vol. 2, 526-534. I also wish to thank LFB
Scholarly Publishing LLC for permission to revise and reprint sections
from Responding to Immigration. I am grateful to the Lilly
Endowment for a 2005-2006 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
Award, which provided much needed release time and conference
money. Regarding release time, special thanks go to Jody Fry for
relieving me of my fair share of chores at home so I could complete my
work. Lastly, I wish to thank Tim Steenbergh and Jerry Pattengale for
their collegial encouragement and assistance.
I am grateful for the opportunity to form a more concise and
theoretically-informed interpretation of American nativism. I have
elucidated its connection to contemporary debates about immigration
with greater specificity, expanded my historical overview of American
nativism, and revised that which was superfluous, tangential or wrong.
In regards to being wrong, I take full responsibility for any errors
contained herein. I am tempted to blame their occurrence on my
children and their loud toys, but doing so seems disingenuous in light
of this book’s dedication to them.

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