The Walls Within: The Politics of Immigration in Modern America

The Walls Within is a book that explores the history of battles over US immigrants' rights since 1965, focusing on efforts to limit their rights through domestic policy. It reveals how the politics of immigration control has undermined the idea of citizenship for all, and how restrictionists gained more influence under the Clinton presidency than even during the Reagan revolution.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 272 pages
Publication date: 14 March 2023
Publisher: Princeton University Press

The history of battles over US immigrants' rights since 1965 has been a complex and contentious one, reshaping access to education, employment, civil liberties, and more. The 1965 Hart-Celler Act, which abolished national quotas in favor of a more egalitarian approach, was a significant milestone in the immigration system. However, subsequent demographic shifts led to a backlash over the social contract and the rights of citizens versus noncitizens.

In her book "The Walls Within," Sarah Coleman explores these political clashes, focusing not on attempts to stop immigration at the border but on efforts to limit immigrants' rights within the United States through domestic policy. Coleman draws on new materials from the Carter, Reagan, and Clinton administrations, as well as immigration and civil rights organizations, to expose how the politics of immigration control have undermined the idea of citizenship for all.

Coleman shows that immigration politics was not just about building or tearing down walls, but about employer sanctions, access to schools, welfare, and the role of local authorities in implementing policies. In the years after 1965, a rising restrictionist movement sought to marginalize immigrants in realms like public education and the labor market. However, throughout the 1970s and 1980s, restrictionists faced countervailing forces committed to an expansive notion of immigrants' rights.

In the 1990s, with national politics gridlocked, anti-immigrant groups turned to statehouses to enact their agenda. Achieving strength at the local level, conservatives supporting immigration restriction actually acquired more influence under the Clinton presidency than even during the so-called Reagan revolution, resulting in dire consequences for millions of immigrants.

Revealing the roots behind much of today's nativist sentiment, "The Walls Within" is a crucial contribution to understanding the complex history of US immigration policy and its impact on the lives of immigrants and society as a whole.

Weight: 446g
Dimension: 234 x 156 x 20 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780691203331