Immigration Policy

The goal of this chapter is to provide you with a general understanding of federal immigration policy in the United States. Immigration policy has become a major focus of recent general elections, sparking political and social unrest in response to evolving immigration policy and policy narratives that all too often demonize immigrants. Immigration represents the United States and continues to represent an important resource for continued social, economic, and political strength. The specific goals for this chapter are (a) to briefly discuss trends in immigration to the United States from the Civil War to the present day, (b) to identify key historic and current federal immigration policies, and (c) to apply policy theory to immigration policy.