Still a Nation of Immigrants

Hazel Rochman

More than a quarter of a million immigrants from more than 100 countries--80 percent of them from Latin America and Asia--are now becoming U.S. citizens every year. Ashabranner looks at the present influx of immigrants and talks about why they come, and what they bring with them, how they fit in, what problems they cause. While he does discuss failure and conflict, it is clear that his focus is on the successes, especially the college-educated, middle-class entrepreneurs who keep alive the American pioneer spirit, work ethic, family solidarity, and drive for education. Ashabranner has written several books on particular ethnic groups, including "The Vanishing Border" (1987), "The New Americans" (1983), and "Into a Strange Land" (1987), and he draws on some of that material here; but this new account does not have the dramatic immediacy of those oral histories. The style here is sometimes dull ("Their adjustment to life in America is moving forward satisfactorily"), and only a few of the black-and-white photographs really make you stop and pay attention. "Immigration" (1990), in the Opposing Viewpoints series, provides more in-depth debate on the issues. What Ashabranner does show and tell in this general overview is that today's immigrants have the same hopes and dreams as earlier immigrants and that their vitality and diversity enrich this country.