This Immigrant Nation: Perspectives on an American Dilemma

Articles from The Nation 1868-the Present

This unvarnished collection of articles traces evolving issues and provides a unique history of the long-running national immigration dilemma.

American immigration has been debated in the pages of The Nation almost since its founding in 1865. The magazine has generally come down on the inclusive or “liberal” side of the great debate, but the editors were not immune from the prejudices of their times—an 1891 editorial called for the exclusion of “lunatics, paupers and cripples.”

In our own time, the post-9/11 anti-terrorism mania prompted a crackdown on those with Muslim ties, however innocent.

Editor Richard Lingeman’s sentiment: “We hope this perspective will inform and inspire readers to support the reforms appropriate for America in the twenty-first century.”