The Three Phases of U.S.-Bound Immigration : From 1880 to the Present

This chapter examines three distinct phases of international migration to the U.S. over the last century and a third: (1) the Great European Waves of the period from 1880 to 1930, which accompanied the American industrial revolution, reached a historic zenith in 1910 when 14.7 percent of the total population was foreign born, and ended with the triumph of restrictionist legislation; (2) a period of Retrenchment from 1930 to 1970, which spanned the Great Depression, World War II and its aftermath, reaching a historic nadir in 1970 when only 4.7 percent of the population was foreign born; and (3) a period of Rebound from 1970 to the present—an era of economic restructuring, widening economic inequality, and the sharply increased migration of low-wage laborers, professionals, entrepreneurs, refugees and asylees, combining to reach a foreign-born total of 40 million by 2010. Migration during this new era grew by more than a million a year, ending with the Great Recession and unprecedented state persecution of millions of undocumented immigrants. This state policy included the creation of a vast network of immigrant detention centers and historic deportation levels, even as undocumented migration decreased to net zero. One leitmotif is the counterpoint between the widespread demand for immigrant labor by different sectors of the American economy and the activities of nativists and xenophobes across the three successive phases of U.S.-bound immigration. We look to the historical record to place present concerns in a broader comparative context. History does not repeat itself, but it echoes