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Overview
Immigration is a hot-button topic, inspiring strong feelings on all sides of the debate. Disagreements over this issue are almost as old as the United States itself. Candidates in the 2008 presidential race offer different solutions to the problems involved.In Welcome to America? A Pro/Con Debate Over Immigration, author Tom Streissguth covers the history of immigration in the United States, explains the different arguments in the current controversy, and looks at possible directions for the future.
Synopsis
Immigration is a hot-button topic, inspiring strong feelings on all sides of the debate. Disagreements over this issue are almost as old as the United States itself. Candidates in the 2008 presidential race offer different solutions to the problems involved.
In Welcome to America? A Pro/Con Debate Over Immigration, author Tom Streissguth covers the history of immigration in the United States, explains the different arguments in the current controversy, and looks at possible directions for the future.
Children's Literature
Except for the nomadic hunters that crossed the land bridge between Alaska and Siberia about 30,000 years ago and emerged from the dawn of history as the nations of the American Indians, the population of the United States has been comprised completely of people who immigrated—or whose ancestors immigrated—to this country. Early promotion of immigration, driven by the need to enlarge the labor force and populate the continent, has given way to the economic and political demands for restricting immigration. The agencies and laws created to legalize, regulate and enforce restrictions on immigration are very complex and too numerous for anyone to understand fully. Coordination between systems and the efforts to process applications and change-in-status requests are too often hit-or-miss. In the midst of these difficulties, the evolving global economy and pressures of supply and demand create a shifting workforce that moves where it is needed reference to borders or nationality. Merging the needs of modern nationhood with the most ancient population imperative, economic need, is the daunting task today's leadership faces. The need for a solution is immediate; finding it is a modern Gordian's Knot. This book, one of the titles in the "Focus Today" series, ends with a chronology, chapter notes, a glossary, a list of books and Internet addresses for further reading, and an index. This would be an important addition to a middle school or high school library, as well as to a curriculum on civics, American history or economics. Reviewer: Hazel Buys