In this distinctive study of the impact of immigration and ethnicity on twentieth-century America, Barkan thoughtfully examines the changing composition of our immigrant populations, highlighting the ways in which certain facets of the struggle to adapt to American society have persisted from the 1920s until the 1990s.

Foreword V List of Tables and Figures X Acknowledgments XII Introduction 1 PART ONE 7 From Postwar to the Eve of World War: 1920-1940 8 Chapter One: The 1920s: Halting the Immigrant Floodtide 9 Adopting Quotas and National Origins 9 The Struggle Over American Citizenship 15 Chapter Two: Adapting to America: The Interwar Years 18 The Not-So-Roaring Twenties 18 Earning a Living 24 Ties that Bind: Homelands and Ethnic Institutions 32 Language, Culture, and the Second Generation 36 Leadership, Citizenship, and Ethnic Politics 40 Chapter Three: The Thirties in Crisis: Repatriation, Refugees, and the New Deal 44 Repatriation: Mexicans and Filipinos 45 Culture, Politics, and the Labor Movement 48 Anti-Semitism and the Refugee Question 50 PART TWO 55 From World War to Cold War: 1940-1965 Chapter Four: Waging War—At Home and Abroad 58 Regulation, Registration, Internment 58 Waging War on the Homefront 64 The Dilemmas of Ethnicity in Wartime 67 Chapter Five: Breaking New Ground: War Brides, DPs, and Refugees 72 Innovations: War Brides and DPs 73 Reveling and Unraveling National Origins 76 America’s Migrants: With and Without Papers 80 Chapter Six: Immigrants and American Society at Midcentury 86 An Overview: Immigrants and Ethnics 87 Immigrants and Ethnics: Urban, Suburban, Rural 91 New Immigrants, New Americans, Old Issues 100 Immigrants and American Citizenship 104 PART THREE 111 America in a Rimless World: 1965-1995 112 Chapter Seven: In the Era of the Cold War and Beyond: Immigrants and Ethnics 115 Legislative Reforms, 1965-1986 115 An Overview of Immigration, Documented and Undocumented, 1965-1995 119 Female Immigration 128 The Immigrant Experience 131 The Immigrant Experience 131 Ties to the Homeland 139 Chapter Eight: Immigrant and Ethnic Adaptation in the Late Twentieth Century: Diversities Within Diversity 144 The White Ethnic “Revival” 146 Religion, Language, culture, and Community 151 The Pillars of Occupation and Education 157 Brain Drain or Reciprocal Gain? 164 Citizenship and Politics: To Do or Not to Do 166 Contrasting Studies of Ethnic Activism: Japanese Americans and Chicanos and Other Latinos 172 Chapter Nine: The 1990s: New Directions or Full Circle? 178 1990: A New Census and New Immigration Reforms 179 The “Costs” of Immigration—Legal and Undocumented 183 The Challenge and the Toll of Immigration 190 Appendix: Additional Tables 197 Bibliographical Essay 215 Index 251 Photo Essay / follows p. 126 Photo Credits 261