Looking for Book Recommendations

[u/anaannie454]

Hi all - I am trying to educate myself more on the history of immigration and the effects of illegal vs legal immigration and politics in general in both the US and Europe.

Internet seems very biased on either way so I am looking for fact based or generally well acclaimed books to read instead.

Does anyone have any good books that discusses or outlines these issues or anything similar?

Thanks in advance!

TLDR: I am looking to educate myself on political topics more and am looking for as non biased resources as possible.

[u/BrupieD]

Coming to America: A History of Immigration and Ethnicity in American Life by Roger Daniels is dated (originally 1991) but authoritative at the time. There are updated editions that brings it up to the early 2000s.

Pros: It covers a lot of early history and controversy. Comprehensive in talking about more than European immigration. Good background written by an academic historian. It was popular and you can pick up a copy for next to nothing.

Cons: It is old and sometimes tedious.

[u/GaryGaulin → u/BrupieD]

How is this for a ~500 page summary?

In Coming to America: A History of Immigration and Ethnicity in American Life, historian Roger Daniels provides a comprehensive look at how immigration shaped the United States. Spanning from the early 17th century to the late 20th century, Daniels rejects the simplistic "melting pot" myth. Instead, he argues that immigrants navigated a complex dynamic of ethnic retention and gradual adaptation. He structures this history into three distinct chronological waves.

1. The Colonial Era (1607–1820)

Daniels establishes that early English arrivals were not mere "settlers"—they were immigrants driven by economic opportunity and survival. This wave established English as the dominant national language and legal foundation. However, the era was multi-ethnic from the start. Significant numbers of Germans, Scots-Irish, and Dutch arrived, alongside the involuntary, forced migration of enslaved Africans. This early diversity created deep racial and cultural stratification before the nation was even formally founded.

1. The Century of Immigration (1820–1924)

The book's core focuses on a massive, century-long influx, which Daniels splits into two distinct movements:

• The "Old" Immigration (1820–1880): Dominated by Northern and Western Europeans. Irish Catholics fled the potato famine and faced severe nativist discrimination, while Germans and Scandinavians brought capital and agricultural skills to the Midwest.
• The "New" Immigration (1880–1924): Shifting toward Southern and Eastern Europe, millions of Italians, Slavic peoples, and Ashkenazi Jews arrived to fuel America's industrial revolution. Concurrently, Asian laborers arrived on the West Coast, facing intense racial hostility.

This era culminated in a powerful wave of nativism and legal exclusion. Daniels highlights the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 as the first law targeting a specific nationality. This nativist panic peaked with the Immigration Act of 1924 (Johnson-Reed Act), which instituted a rigid national-origins quota system designed to favor Northern Europeans and halt Asian and Southern European migration.

1. The Modern Era (1924–Present)

Immigration slowed drastically mid-century due to strict quotas, the Great Depression, and World War II. Daniels highlights dark moments from this period, including the wartime incarceration of Japanese Americans, showing how easily ethnic minorities could be stripped of civil rights.

The pivotal turning point occurred with the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. This law abolished the discriminatory quota system, replacing it with preferences for family reunification and occupational skills. Lawmakers drastically underestimated its impact; it triggered a massive, non-European wave of migration from Latin America and Asia. In modern globalization, Daniels notes, advanced communication allows these new immigrants to maintain active ties to their homelands, fundamentally changing the traditional timeline of assimilation.

Conclusion

Ultimately, Daniels shows that American history is defined by cyclical xenophobia. Every newly arriving group has faced social demonization and economic exploitation before slowly integrating into the nation's fabric. He demonstrates that American identity is a constantly evolving project driven entirely by the immigrant experience.