Book Reviews

• Author: Nadia Rubaii-Barrett
• Date: 01 June 2000
• Published date: 01 June 2000
• DOI: 10.1177/02750740022064632
• Subject Matter: Articles

ARPA/June2000BOOKREVIEWS

BOOK REVIEWS

Making Americans, Remaking America: Immigration & Immigrant Policy.By

Louis DeSipio and Rodolfo O. de la Garza. Boulder, CO: Westview, 1998.

At the Crossroads: MexicanMigration and U.S. Policy. Edited by Frank D. Bean,

Rodolfo O. de la Garza, Bryan R. Roberts, and Sidney Weintraub. Lanham: Row-

man & Littlefield, 1997.

Help or Hindrance? The Economic Implications of Immigration for African

Americans. Edited by Daniel S. Hamermesh and Frank D. Bean. New York: Rus-

sell Sage, 1998.

The United States has a long history of immigration and an equally long and

ubiquitous love-hate relationship with immigrants. Public opinion and public

policies have modulated between periods of warm embrace and periods of

strong resistance to newcomers. Withinthis fluctuation is a general tendency to

positive attitudes toward immigrants from generations past and negative posi-

tions directed toward those from the present. As syndicated columnist Ben Wat-

tenberg once remarked, “I’m convinced that when the second boatload of pil-

grims landed in Massachusetts, those on the Mayflower said, ‘There goes the

neighborhood.’”Current publicopinionand recentpublicpolicy reflecta strong

anti-immigrationmovementat present,andnot surprisingly,the strongest senti-

ments are directed toward those groups who are coming from the major sending

regions—Asia and Latin America.

Living and working in one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas along

the United States-Mexico border, I havedeveloped both a professional and per-

sonalinterestin theconsequences—realand perceived—ofUnited Statesimmi-

gration policy. As such, I was pleased to accept Don Klingner’s request to

review these books. Collectively, these books provide valuable information

regarding the ongoing controversy on American immigration policy, and they

contribute to our understanding of views on immigration by scholars, policy

makers, and the public. The books represent considerable variation in complex-

ity of content and methodology as well as in the disciplinary lenses through

which they view immigration. Theydiffer widely in scope and level of sophisti-

cation; accordingly, they are suited for quite different audiences.

InMakingAmericans, RemakingAmerica,DeSipio anddela Garzaprovide a

broad overview of the historical development of immigration policy and of

AMERICAN REVIEW OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION,Vol. 30 No. 2, June 2000 205-210

© 2000 Sage Publications, Inc.

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