Immigrant Experiences

September 17, 2018
Ewing, senior researcher at the American Immigration Council, provides a comprehensive overview of immigration to the United States in this accessible and instructive book. The work is broken into three sections, each focusing on a phase in the immigration process (“The First Steps,” “Homecomings,” “The New Ordinary”), drawing examples from the history of groups who have immigrated to the U.S. (from such places as Ireland, Italy, Mexico, China, and India) and contemporary issues and myths about immigration. He covers historical factors that have spurred immigration, including xenophobic Russian policies that prompted Jews to flee in the 1880s; the economic downtown in Ireland that began around 1815 and reached its nadir in the Great Famine; the U.S. military’s use during the Iraq war of Iraqi interpreters, many of whom were later resettled in the U.S.; and the U.S. Immigration Act of 1990, which dramatically increased the number of employment-based visas for tech workers. Drawing on academic research, Ewing makes the case that immigration is important and beneficial to United States culture and economy and dispels myths that all immigrants to the U.S. are destitute and that Mexican immigrants are hurting the economy and stealing jobs. Ewing’s compassionate and informative study is a good starting point for those who want to separate myths from facts on this controversial topic.

August 1, 2018
In this exceedingly well-written primer on why immigrants come to the U.S. and what can happen to them upon arrival, Ewing draws on his years of experience working for such organizations as the American Immigrant Council and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. In a straightforward and well-organized manner, he provides concise histories of various immigrant groups, past and present, and their experiences. He profiles Jews fleeing Nazi persecution, military translators from Iraq, and tech workers arriving from India, among many others who sought security, safety, or success in America. He then discusses how nativism has reared its ugly head like clockwork throughout American history and what integration has looked like from one generation to the next. In each case, Ewing resists easy political arguments, instead grounding his conclusions in solid facts. It's always a war between ?us' and ?them' he writes, but who ?they' are changes every few decades. Many readers will appreciate Ewing's frank analysis of this always complex and troubling issue.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)