This text introduces students to the main groups of refugees in America. Divided into political, sociological, anthropological, and historical approaches, the book discusses the peoples themselves as well as their impact on American society. Refugees are a special category of people who are admitted to this country for humanitarian reasons, have suffered greatly before getting here, and are resettled through an impressive combination of public and private resources. This book traces each group through the process and assesses their future prospects.

This volume introduces the reader to an important set of newcomers to America. Two overview chapters introduce the U.S. refugee program and the general patterns in resettlement and adaptation. The chapters cover the origins of the program, its development through successive waves of refugees and layers of legislation, the life experiences that refugees bring with them, the problems they must confront, and the ways they rebuild their lives. The heart of the book, however, is Part II, which provides chapters on the largest groups of refugees who have resettled since World War II. Each...

Few issues have provoked as much controversy over the last decade as illegal immigration. While some argue for the need to seal America's borders and withdraw all forms of social and governmental support for illegal migrants and their children, others argue for humanitarian treatment--including legalization--for people who fill widely acknowledged needs in American industry and agriculture and have left home-country situations of economic hardship or political persecution. The study of illegal immigration necessarily confronts a broad range of migrants--from the familiar border crossers to...

At the turn of the century, America is both retrenching and expanding, becoming more restrictive and more expansive, more utilitarian and, more value- and religion-oriented. As was true a century ago, the flow of these changes is very much a story of immigrants, their lives in America, and the changing lives of those they join. This book examines the interaction of immigrants and the native-born in nine widely varying locales, including Richmond, VA, St. Louis, West Palm Beach, FL, Tacoma, WA, Garden City, KS, Dallas, Phoenix, San Francisco, and New York City.

The volume considers a...