Although America is unquestionably a nation of immigrants, its immigration policies have inspired more questions than consensus on who should be admitted and what the path to citizenship should be. In Americans in Waiting, Hiroshi Motomura looks to a forgotten part of our past to show how, for over 150 years, immigration was assumed to be a transition to citizenship, with immigrants essentially being treated as future citizens--Americans in waiting. Challenging current conceptions, the author deftly uncovers how this view, once so central to law and policy, has all but vanished. Motomura explains how America could create a more unified society by recovering this lost history and by giving immigrants more, but at the same time asking more of them. A timely, panoramic chronicle of immigration and citizenship in the United States, Americans in Waiting offers new ideas and a fresh perspective on current debates.

This book connects the history of immigration with histories of Native Americans, African Americans, women, the poor, Latino/a Americans and Asian Americans.

"Learn About the United States" is intended to help permanent residents gain a deeper understanding of U.S. history and government as they prepare to become citizens. The product presents 96 short lessons, based on the sample questions from which the civics portion of the naturalization test is drawn. An audio CD that allows students to listen to the questions, answers, and civics lessons read aloud is also included. For immigrants preparing to naturalize, the chance to learn more about the history and government of the United States will make their journey toward citizenship a more meaningful one.

Between 2000 and 2011, eight million immigrants became American citizens. In naturalization ceremonies large and small these new Americans pledged an oath of allegiance to the United States, gaining the right to vote, serve on juries, and hold political office; access to certain jobs; and the legal rights of full citizens. In The Road to Citizenship, Sofya Aptekar analyzes what the process of becoming a citizen means for these newly minted Americans and what it means for the United States as a whole. Examining the evolution of the discursive role of immigrants in American society from potential traitors to morally superior “supercitizens,” Aptekar’s in-depth research uncovers considerable contradictions with the way naturalization works today. Census data reveal that citizenship is distributed in ways that increasingly exacerbate existing class and racial inequalities, at the same time that immigrants’ own understandings of naturalization defy accepted stories we tell about assimilation, citizenship, and becoming American. Aptekar contends that debates about immigration must be broadened beyond the current focus on borders and documentation to include larger questions about the definition of citizenship. Aptekar’s work brings into sharp relief key questions about the overall system: does the current naturalization process accurately reflect our priorities as a nation and reflect the values we wish to instill in new residents and citizens? Should barriers to full membership in the American polity be lowered? What are the implications of keeping the process the same or changing it? Using archival research, interviews, analysis of census and survey data, and participant observation of citizenship ceremonies, The Road to Citizenship demonstrates the ways in which naturalization itself reflects the larger operations of social cohesion and democracy in America.

With a theme of membership and belonging reflected throughout, Immigration and Citizenship: Process and Policy presents exceptionally broad coverage of immigration and citizenship and their unalienable rights. The book discusses constitutional protections, deportation, and judicial review and removal procedures. The authors define immigration and citizenship to include not only the traditional questions of who is admitted and who is allowed to stay in the United States, but also the complex areas of discrimination between citizens and non-citizens, unauthorized migration, federalism, and the close interaction of constitutional law with statutes and regulations. The fifth edition integrates important developments, including many changes to the immigration statutes as part of the Patriot Act; anti-terrorism enforcement; and splitting up the Immigration and Naturalization Service into various parts of the new Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies. Other significant changes include deleting the chapter on the concept of entry, folding the deportation chapter's discussion of relief into a general chapter on the grounds of deportability, and creating a new chapter on undocumented immigration.

One of the most contentious issues in America today is the status of immigration. American Immigration and Citizenship shows that this issue is far from new. In this book, John Vile provides context for contemporary debates on the topic through key historical documents presented alongside essays that interpret their importance for the reader. The author concludes that a highly-interconnected world presents no easy answers and offers no single immigration policy that will work for all time. The book includes a mix of laws, constitutional provisions, speeches, and judicial decisions from each period. Vile furthermore traces the interconnections between issues of citizenship and issues of immigration, indicating that public opinion and legislation has often contained contradictory strains. Although the primary focus has been on national laws and decisions, some of the readings clearly indicate the stakes that states, which are often affected disproportionately by such laws, have also had in this process.

"The Accidental American" vividly illustrates the challenges and contradictions of U.S. immigration policy, and argues that, just as there is a free flow of capital in the world economy, there should be a free flow of labor.

This book tells the story of modern immigration through the life of Fekkak Mamdouh, an ordinary, if somewhat fortunate, immigrant who found himself at the center of historic events. Situations like his have given rise to a contentious debate across the United States about immigration and the purpose of contemporary policy. Politicians, media pun...

Presents a guide for immigrants going through the process of becoming U.S. citizens, covering topics such as the steps for obtaining visas for family members and how a person can be deported with a green card or visa.