Time Machine: Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965

Vox's Li Zhou joins Dara and Matt for another spin in the time machine, to talk about the policy that shaped how immigration largely still works in America. They discuss the history and context of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (a.k.a. the Hart-Celler Act), and the previous discriminatory immigration policies that preceded it. Our hosts also discuss how this piece of legislation shaped — and still shapes — the way immigration in America takes place today.

Resources:

One Mighty and Irresistible Tide: The Epic Struggle Over American Immigration, 1924-1965 by Jia Lynn Yang (W.W. Norton; 2021)

"Unintended Consequences of US Immigration Policy: Explaining the Post-1965 Surge from Latin America" by Douglas S Massey and Karen A. Pren (Popul Dev Rev.; 2012)

"Modern Immigration Wave Brings 59 Million to U.S., Driving Population Growth and Change Through 2065: Views of Immigration's Impact on U.S. Society Mixed" (Pew Research Center, 2015)

"Who Was Shut Out? Immigration Quotas, 1925-1927" (GMU/Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1929)

Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America by Mae M. Ngai (Princeton; 2014)

"Why income inequality is growing at the fastest rate among Asian Americans" by Natalie Zhang (CNBC; May 26)

The Making of Asian America by Erika Lee (Simon & Schuster; 2015)

Hosts:

Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.com

Dara Lind (@DLind), Immigration Reporter, ProPublica

Li Zhou (@liszhou), Politics and policy reporter, Vox

Credits:

Erikk Geannikis (@erikk38), Producer

Ness Smith-Savedoff, Engineer

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