Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America

What role have American conceptions of identity played in issues of legal and illegal immigration? What, according to Ngai, has a supposedly “typical” American looked like in political discourse and law? Has this conception changed in the present day? Why or why not?

What were some of the assumptions and ideological motivations of interest groups that pushed for restrictive immigration policies in the aftermath of World War I? What factors in the post-war context shaped their position, and in what ways?

How have ideas about race shaped American immigration policies? What ideas about race continue to shape immigration policies today?