In every decade since the passage of the Hart Cellar Act of 1965, Congress has faced conflicting pressures: to restrict legal immigration and to provide employers with unregulated access to migrant labor. This book shows that in these debates, immigrant-rights groups advocated a surprisingly moderate course of action: expansionism was tempered by a politics of inclusion. Rights advocates supported generous family-unification policies, for example, but opposed proposals that would admit large numbers of guest workers without providing a clear path to citizenship. As leaders of pro-immigrant coa ... More

In every decade since the passage of the Hart Cellar Act of 1965, Congress has faced conflicting pressures: to restrict legal immigration and to provide employers with unregulated access to migrant labor. This book shows that in these debates, immigrant-rights groups advocated a surprisingly moderate course of action: expansionism was tempered by a politics of inclusion. Rights advocates supported generous family-unification policies, for example, but opposed proposals that would admit large numbers of guest workers without providing a clear path to citizenship. As leaders of pro-immigrant coalitions, Latino and Asian American rights advocates were highly effective in influencing immigration lawmakers even before their constituencies gained political clout in the voting booth. Success depended on casting rights demands in universalistic terms, while leveraging their standing as representatives of growing minority populations.