Kenneth Lee's book explains the disparity between our national immigration policy and public opinion. His analysis touches on pre-1965 legislation, an era in which public policy on immigration did reflect public opinion, and then examines the legislation from 1965 on in detail.
Before 1965 labor unions, cities, and nativist issues helped keep immigration low. After this time the AFL and the CIO merged. While still in favor of protecting skilled workers, the new union was more interested in organizing new immigrant workers. Municipalities were given federal monies to offset some of the costs of rising new immigrant populations, and it was no longer socially acceptable in Congress to bring up racial issues to limit immigration. The restriction side lost support and the pro-immigration forces organized.
Much of the increase in immigration can be traced to a powerful coalition of the left and right, according to the author. Immigrant rights groups and ethnic groups found they would benefit from joint lobbying efforts with pro-business forces. The strategy has been to focus Congress on illegal immigration to lessen attention on legislation reducing legal numbers. The media had mostly covered illegal immigration as the only problem. They label a member of Congress “anti-family” if the representative wants any reduction in family-based chain immigration. The rising influence of big business in immigration policy was strongly felt, especially in skilled worker visas.
There were other issues, such as the Chamber of Commerce push for a special category of well-heeled investor-immigrants. Another is the diversity visa, added when Congress realized it had almost excluded Europeans. Foreign policy considerations are a part of the explanation; generous refugee and amnesty admissions are other factors.
Kenneth Lee, an immigrant, does not interject his own opinions on these changes in policy. He predicts that there will be no drastic changes in immigration policy in the near future.
Kenneth K. Lee has written on public policy and issues for many publications, including the Los Angeles Times, National Review, The New Republic and Heterodoxy.
— by Carol Joyal
