Inside U.S. Immigration Policy: The Historical and Social Forces Shaping Contemporary Debates

Inside U.S. Immigration Policy provides a comprehensive introduction to the development of U.S. immigration and immigration policies from the nation’s colonial beginnings to the present day.

Written for students of social welfare, social work, public policy, sociology, and history, the book develops a clear and historical framework for understanding current controversies around immigration. Bryan Warde offers a thoroughly researched account of immigration policies spanning 1882 to the present and calls upon theories and ideologies that explain conflicting views and shifting attitudes on immigrants and immigration. The book’s discussion is organized chronologically and each chapter supports students in developing the skills and knowledge to analyze and unpack the extent to which societal structures and values may oppress, marginalize, alienate, create, or enhance privilege and power in the context of immigration policies. It also reveals the forms and mechanisms of oppression and discrimination and leads readers to consider the sociopolitical factors that shape social policy and the provision of services to marginalized populations.

Chapter summaries, timelines, and discussion questions throughout support learning and comprehension and encourage students to grasp the nuances and implications of this vastly important field of study. This book is an excellent addition to a range of undergraduate and graduate courses on social welfare, public policy, social work, sociology, and history.

Bryan Warde, Ph.D., LCSW, is Professor in the Social Work Program at CUNY Lehman College. In the BSW program, he teaches a class on Social Welfare Institutions, and in the MSW program, he teaches across the curriculum. As the policy curriculum committee chairperson at Lehman College, Dr. Warde has worked collaboratively with colleagues to refine the BSW and MSW policy curriculum and prepares undergraduate and graduate social work students for policy and legislative advocacy at the mezzo and macro-level. Dr. Warde also teaches Social Policy in the CUNY Graduate Center’s doctoral program in Social Welfare, and before his professorship at Lehman College, he was a professional social worker, fulfilling roles primarily within the field of child welfare as a case aide, caseworker, supervisor, and later Director of Foster Care and Adoption at Lakeside Family and Children’s Services.