https://dailyhistory.org/index.php?title=Impossible_Subjects:_Illegal_Aliens_and_the_Making_of_Modern_America_-_Book_Review&feed=atom&action=historyImpossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America - Book Review - Revision history2024-03-29T01:16:05ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.30.0https://dailyhistory.org/index.php?title=Impossible_Subjects:_Illegal_Aliens_and_the_Making_of_Modern_America_-_Book_Review&diff=15502&oldid=prevAdmin at 19:52, 8 March 20192019-03-08T19:52:38Z<p></p>
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<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>[[File:Impossiblesubjects.jpg|thumbnail|left|250px|<i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0691160821/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0691160821&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=2dae211853031ea991e4df9262a149af Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America]</i> by Mae Ngai]]</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>[[File:Impossiblesubjects.jpg|thumbnail|left|250px|<i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0691160821/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0691160821&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=2dae211853031ea991e4df9262a149af Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America]</i> by Mae Ngai]]</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>During the 2016 election debates, candidate Trump proposed a solid wall as a solution for limiting illegal immigration from Mexico. The wall would stretch between the United States and Mexico while supporting dispersed checkpoints along the boundary. Mae Ngai, professor of Asian American Studies at Columbia University traced the intricate history of immigration legislation and construction of identities through immigration during the 20th century in her book, ''Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America''. Ngai focuses on the years 1924 to 1965, which was marked by the passage of the Johnson-Reed Immigration Act of 1924 that implemented a national origins quota system. This act signaled the beginning of politicizing immigrants into categories of undesirables such as criminals and anarchist.  </div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>During the 2016 election debates, candidate Trump proposed a solid wall as a solution for limiting illegal immigration from Mexico. The wall would stretch between the United States and Mexico while supporting dispersed checkpoints along the boundary. Mae Ngai, professor of Asian American Studies at Columbia University traced the intricate history of immigration legislation and construction of identities through immigration during the 20th century in her book, ''<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0691160821/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0691160821&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=2dae211853031ea991e4df9262a149af </ins>Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]</ins>''. Ngai focuses on the years 1924 to 1965, which was marked by the passage of the Johnson-Reed Immigration Act of 1924 that implemented a national origins quota system. This act signaled the beginning of politicizing immigrants into categories of undesirables such as criminals and anarchist.  </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>As Ngai described it, the codification of immigration “remapped the nation in two important ways.” (3)  First, “new ethnic and racial map based on new categories and hierarchies of difference” was drawn, and second, “a new sense of territoriality” was “marked by unprecedented awareness” through “state surveillance of the nation’s contiguous land borders.” (3)  On the path to citizenship, Ngai reveals that the fear of Chinese laborers crossing physical boundaries from Canada and Mexico were misplaced. Instead, many of the immigrants posed as persons who were legally admissible. They often used fraudulent certificates that identified them as merchants, claimed to be American citizens by native birth, or as the Chinese born sons of U.S. citizens, known formally as derivative citizens” (204)</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>As Ngai described it, the codification of immigration “remapped the nation in two important ways.” (3)  First, “new ethnic and racial map based on new categories and hierarchies of difference” was drawn, and second, “a new sense of territoriality” was “marked by unprecedented awareness” through “state surveillance of the nation’s contiguous land borders.” (3)  On the path to citizenship, Ngai reveals that the fear of Chinese laborers crossing physical boundaries from Canada and Mexico were misplaced. Instead, many of the immigrants posed as persons who were legally admissible. They often used fraudulent certificates that identified them as merchants, claimed to be American citizens by native birth, or as the Chinese born sons of U.S. citizens, known formally as derivative citizens” (204)</div></td></tr>
</table>Adminhttps://dailyhistory.org/index.php?title=Impossible_Subjects:_Illegal_Aliens_and_the_Making_of_Modern_America_-_Book_Review&diff=15501&oldid=prevAdmin at 19:52, 8 March 20192019-03-08T19:52:15Z<p></p>
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<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>[[File:Impossiblesubjects.jpg|thumbnail|left|250px|<i>Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">- Book Review</del></i> by Mae Ngai]]</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>[[File:Impossiblesubjects.jpg|thumbnail|left|250px|<i><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0691160821/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0691160821&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=2dae211853031ea991e4df9262a149af </ins>Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]</ins></i> by Mae Ngai]]</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div> </div></td><td colspan="2"> </td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">''This article was originally published on [http://videri.org/index.php?title=Impossible_Subjects:_Illegal_Aliens_and_the_Making_of_Modern_America| Videri.org] and is republished here with their permission.''</del></div></td><td colspan="2"> </td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>During the 2016 election debates, candidate Trump proposed a solid wall as a solution for limiting illegal immigration from Mexico. The wall would stretch between the United States and Mexico while supporting dispersed checkpoints along the boundary. Mae Ngai, professor of Asian American Studies at Columbia University traced the intricate history of immigration legislation and construction of identities through immigration during the 20th century in her book, ''Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America''. Ngai focuses on the years 1924 to 1965, which was marked by the passage of the Johnson-Reed Immigration Act of 1924 that implemented a national origins quota system. This act signaled the beginning of politicizing immigrants into categories of undesirables such as criminals and anarchist.  </div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>During the 2016 election debates, candidate Trump proposed a solid wall as a solution for limiting illegal immigration from Mexico. The wall would stretch between the United States and Mexico while supporting dispersed checkpoints along the boundary. Mae Ngai, professor of Asian American Studies at Columbia University traced the intricate history of immigration legislation and construction of identities through immigration during the 20th century in her book, ''Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America''. Ngai focuses on the years 1924 to 1965, which was marked by the passage of the Johnson-Reed Immigration Act of 1924 that implemented a national origins quota system. This act signaled the beginning of politicizing immigrants into categories of undesirables such as criminals and anarchist.  </div></td></tr>
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<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Thus, immigration reform became analogous with discussions of civil rights through a struggle for membership and recognition as a citizen. Immigration reform was particularly evident in the book’s conclusion in discussing a post-World War II America in which an influx of American Jews, Italian Americans, and Greek Americans, and others struggled for equality during the post-New Deal. While lengthy and greatly detailed, Ngai compacted many of her major points into the conclusion that American cultural pluralism was becoming more prevalent which criticizes ideas of American nativism and cultural homogenizing assimilation in the United States.  </div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Thus, immigration reform became analogous with discussions of civil rights through a struggle for membership and recognition as a citizen. Immigration reform was particularly evident in the book’s conclusion in discussing a post-World War II America in which an influx of American Jews, Italian Americans, and Greek Americans, and others struggled for equality during the post-New Deal. While lengthy and greatly detailed, Ngai compacted many of her major points into the conclusion that American cultural pluralism was becoming more prevalent which criticizes ideas of American nativism and cultural homogenizing assimilation in the United States.  </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><del style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></del></div></td><td colspan="2"> </td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><del style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">[http://videri.org/index.php?title=Guide_to_the_Literature Check out other great articles at Videri.org.] </del></div></td><td colspan="2"> </td></tr>
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<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">''This article was originally published on [http://videri.org/index.php?title=Impossible_Subjects:_Illegal_Aliens_and_the_Making_of_Modern_America| Videri.org] and is republished here with their permission.''</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">[http://videri.org/index.php?title=Guide_to_the_Literature Check out other great articles at Videri.org.] </ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>[[Category:20th Century History]] [[Category:Book Review]] [[Category:United States History]][[Category:Immigration History]] [[Category:Videri.org]]</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>[[Category:20th Century History]] [[Category:Book Review]] [[Category:United States History]][[Category:Immigration History]] [[Category:Videri.org]]</div></td></tr>
</table>Adminhttps://dailyhistory.org/index.php?title=Impossible_Subjects:_Illegal_Aliens_and_the_Making_of_Modern_America_-_Book_Review&diff=15086&oldid=prevAdmin: /* Related DailyHistory.org Articles */2019-02-04T17:35:30Z<p><span dir="auto"><span class="autocomment">Related DailyHistory.org Articles</span></span></p>
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<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>*[[Voices of Protest: Huey Long, Father Coughlin and the Great Depression - Book Review]]</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>*[[Voices of Protest: Huey Long, Father Coughlin and the Great Depression - Book Review]]</div></td></tr>
</table>Adminhttps://dailyhistory.org/index.php?title=Impossible_Subjects:_Illegal_Aliens_and_the_Making_of_Modern_America_-_Book_Review&diff=15085&oldid=prevAdmin at 17:34, 4 February 20192019-02-04T17:34:17Z<p></p>
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<td colspan="2" style="background-color: white; color:black; text-align: center;">Revision as of 17:34, 4 February 2019</td>
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<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>[http://videri.org/index.php?title=Guide_to_the_Literature Check out other great articles at Videri.org.]  </div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>[http://videri.org/index.php?title=Guide_to_the_Literature Check out other great articles at Videri.org.]  </div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
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<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">====Related DailyHistory.org Articles====</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">*[[Raising Children by David F. Lancy - Book Review]]</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">*[[Public Health and the Risk Factor by William Rothstein]]</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">*[[A War of Frontier and Empire: The Philippine-American War, 1899-1902]]</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">*[[The Visible Saints - Book Review]]</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">*[[Voices of Protest: Huey Long, Father Coughlin and the Great Depression - Book Review]]</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">*[[The Anatomy of Fascism – Book Review]]</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">*[[Political Parties and American Political Development from the Age of Jackson to the Age of Lincoln - Book Review]]</ins></div></td></tr>
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</table>Adminhttps://dailyhistory.org/index.php?title=Impossible_Subjects:_Illegal_Aliens_and_the_Making_of_Modern_America_-_Book_Review&diff=14844&oldid=prevAdmin at 17:48, 22 January 20192019-01-22T17:48:46Z<p></p>
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<td colspan="2" style="background-color: white; color:black; text-align: center;">Revision as of 17:48, 22 January 2019</td>
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<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>''This article was originally published on [http://videri.org/index.php?title=Impossible_Subjects:_Illegal_Aliens_and_the_Making_of_Modern_America| Videri.org] and is republished here with their permission.''</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>''This article was originally published on [http://videri.org/index.php?title=Impossible_Subjects:_Illegal_Aliens_and_the_Making_of_Modern_America| Videri.org] and is republished here with their permission.''</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>During the 2016 election debates, candidate Trump proposed a solid wall as a solution for limiting illegal immigration from Mexico. The wall would stretch between the United States and Mexico while supporting dispersed checkpoints along the boundary. Mae Ngai, professor of Asian American Studies at Columbia University traced the intricate history of immigration legislation and construction of identities through immigration during the 20th century in her book, ''Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America''. Ngai focuses on the years 1924 to 1965, which was marked by the passage of the Johnson-Reed Immigration Act of 1924 that implemented a national origins quota system. This act signaled the beginning of politicizing immigrants into categories of undesirables such as criminals and anarchist. <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">As Ngai described it, the codification of immigration “remapped the nation in two important ways.” (3)  First, “new ethnic and racial map based on new categories and hierarchies of difference” was drawn, and second, “a new sense of territoriality” was “marked by unprecedented awareness” through “state surveillance of the nation’s contiguous land borders.” (3)  On the path to citizenship, Ngai reveals that the fear of Chinese laborers crossing physical boundaries from Canada and Mexico were misplaced, instead many of the immigrants posed as persons who were legally admissible, often with fraudulent certificates identifying them as merchants or by claiming to be American citizens by native birth or as the China-born sons of U.S. citizens, known formally as derivative citizens” (204)</del></div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>During the 2016 election debates, candidate Trump proposed a solid wall as a solution for limiting illegal immigration from Mexico. The wall would stretch between the United States and Mexico while supporting dispersed checkpoints along the boundary. Mae Ngai, professor of Asian American Studies at Columbia University traced the intricate history of immigration legislation and construction of identities through immigration during the 20th century in her book, ''Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America''. Ngai focuses on the years 1924 to 1965, which was marked by the passage of the Johnson-Reed Immigration Act of 1924 that implemented a national origins quota system. This act signaled the beginning of politicizing immigrants into categories of undesirables such as criminals and anarchist.  </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">In near granular detail</del>, the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">book divided into four parts that primarily examines the beginning </del>of immigration <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">legislation from </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">19th through 20h centuries</del>. <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Specific case studies of Chinese</del>, <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Filipinos, Mexicans, Japanese Americans present different cultural layers of American pluralism </del>and <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">demonstrate the complexity that Congressional legislation experienced. Ngai is specifically interested in quota legislation, boundaries </del>of <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">class through immigration, alien citizenship during World War II</del>, and <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">immigration reform during the Post-World War II. Throughout the book</del>, <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Ngai demonstrated the contradiction with the term “illegal alien” which she argues </del>was <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">the product </del>of <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">immigration restrictions. The illegal alien became an impossible subject “whose inclusion within </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">nation was simultaneously a social reality and a legal impossibility</del>.” (<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">4</del>) <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Another major theme of the book focuses on </del>the path to citizenship <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">which was opened to legal immigrants</del>, <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">but </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">illegal aliens that remapped territorial </del>boundaries <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">through travel </del>were <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">barred from national membership</del>.  </div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">As Ngai described it</ins>, the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">codification </ins>of immigration <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">“remapped </ins>the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">nation in two important ways</ins>.<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">” (3)  First</ins>, <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">“new ethnic and racial map based on new categories </ins>and <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">hierarchies </ins>of <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">difference” was drawn</ins>, and <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">second</ins>, <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">“a new sense of territoriality” </ins>was <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">“marked by unprecedented awareness” through “state surveillance </ins>of the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">nation’s contiguous land borders</ins>.” (<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">3</ins>) <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline"> On </ins>the path to citizenship, <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Ngai reveals that </ins>the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">fear of Chinese laborers crossing physical </ins>boundaries <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">from Canada and Mexico were misplaced. Instead, many of the immigrants posed as persons who </ins>were <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">legally admissible. They often used fraudulent certificates that identified them as merchants, claimed to be American citizens by native birth, or as the Chinese born sons of U.S</ins>. <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">citizens, known formally as derivative citizens” (204)</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">After World War I</del>, the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">American Legion, and </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">American Federation </del>of <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Labor brought Congress’ attention to “hordes” of “impoverished people fleeing war torn Europe were on </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">way” to Ellis Island</del>. <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Ngai credit this attention to economic and political trends after World War I. The rise </del>of <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">wartime nationalism brought inflated fears </del>of <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">disloyal “hyphenated Americans” which prompted support for a “restrictionist movement against eastern </del>and <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">southern Europeans</del>.<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">” (19) Prior to the 1920s</del>, <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">the continuous growth </del>of <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">labor </del>immigration <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">saturated the needed for more</del>, <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">thus by the 1920s</del>, <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">“industrial capitalism had matured to </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">point where economic growth could come more from technological advances in mass production than from a continued expansion of the manufacturing workforce</del>.<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">” (19)</del></div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">In near granular detail</ins>, the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">book divided into four parts that primarily examines </ins>the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">beginning </ins>of <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">immigration legislation from </ins>the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">19th through 20h centuries</ins>. <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Specific case studies </ins>of <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Chinese, Filipinos, Mexicans, Japanese Americans present different cultural layers </ins>of <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">American pluralism </ins>and <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">demonstrate the complexity that Congressional legislation experienced</ins>. <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Ngai is specifically interested in quota legislation</ins>, <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">boundaries </ins>of <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">class through </ins>immigration, <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">alien citizenship during World War II</ins>, <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">and immigration reform during </ins>the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Post-World War II</ins>.  </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Ngai skillfully and continuously focuses on pivotal points in American legislation and its enforcement such as the enforcement of Canadian and Mexican boundaries in </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">late 19th century which has become a popular debate in recent politics. While her </del>book <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">focuses mostly on the 20th century</del>, <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">it was necessary for </del>Ngai <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">to point out that </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">northern and southern boundaries of </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">United States were enforced to “deter Chinese and Europeans” and undesirable classes. (64) Weaving class conflict and creation, Ngai concludes that enforcement </del>was the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">consolidation </del>of <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">American sovereignty over a physical territory</del>. <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">It was a process that led to the creation of the first land Border Control legislation in 1929. It </del>became <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">a misdemeanor “punishable by one year imprisonment or $1,000 fine, or both” if </del>an <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">illegal alien </del>was <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">found </del>and <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">caught</del>. (<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">60</del>) <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Subsequent punishment increased </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">penalty toward deportation. Untrained officers in Border Control often overextended their physical areas of arrests and apprehension by hundreds of miles </del>which <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">led </del>to <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">a review and reform of Border Patrol legislation</del>.  </div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Throughout </ins>the book, Ngai <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">demonstrates </ins>the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">contradiction with </ins>the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">term “illegal alien” which she argues </ins>was the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">product </ins>of <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">immigration restrictions</ins>. <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">The illegal alien </ins>became an <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">impossible subject “whose inclusion within the nation </ins>was <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">simultaneously a social reality </ins>and <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">a legal impossibility</ins>.<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">” </ins>(<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">4</ins>) <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Another major theme of the book focuses on </ins>the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">path to citizenship </ins>which <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">was opened </ins>to <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">legal immigrants, but the illegal aliens that remapped territorial boundaries through travel were barred from national membership</ins>.  </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">As categories of immigrants shift from </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">periphery of </del>American <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">citizenship to the forefront of legislative debate. Ngai describes new classes of laborers </del>and <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">colonial subjects. Chinese exclusion from </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">19th century persevered well into the twentieth century. Marginalization </del>of <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">the Chinese restricted them </del>to <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">the Chinatown ghettos, limiting their participation in society despite the Supreme Court ruling </del>of <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">1898 that American born Chinese </del>were <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">citizens</del>. Ngai <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">clarifies historical immigration intertwined with social citizenship. Chinese exclusion was elevated beyond legislation as Americans were convinced of Chinese racial unassimilability which ultimately concluded that American born Chinese were permanent foreigners. Masterfully put together, Ngai immediately follows the Chinese assimilation theme with a study of Japanese American experience during </del>and after World War <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">II</del>. <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">In </del>a <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">similar situation, Japanese Americans were believed to be easily assimilated into American life. Japanese Americans bought land to farm, opened shops, </del>and <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">learned western traditions whereas Chinese Americans were observed to hold onto traditions</del>. <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">While American citizens consumed Chinese food, culture</del>, <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">and products, their membership into society was restricted. However, as </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">bombing </del>of <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Pearl Harbor led to </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">internment of Japanese Americans</del>, <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">many Japanese either joined </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">war or </del>could <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">participate </del>in <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">legal battles for freedom. Ngai points out the distinctions that were observed between groups </del>of <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">immigrants, highlighting </del>the <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">way culture defined new perceptions of American identity and territorial sovereignty</del>.  </div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">After World War I, </ins>the American <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Legion </ins>and the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">American Federation </ins>of <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Labor brought Congress’ attention </ins>to <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">“hordes” </ins>of <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">“impoverished people fleeing war-torn Europe </ins>were <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">on the way” to Ellis Island</ins>. Ngai <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">credit this attention to economic </ins>and <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">political trends </ins>after World War <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">I</ins>. <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">The rise of wartime nationalism brought exaggerated fears of disloyal “hyphenated Americans” which prompted support for </ins>a <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">“restrictionist movement against eastern </ins>and <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">southern Europeans</ins>.<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">” (19) Before the 1920s</ins>, the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">continuous growth </ins>of <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">labor immigration saturated the needed for more, thus by </ins>the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">1920s</ins>, <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">“industrial capitalism had matured to </ins>the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">point where economic growth </ins>could <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">come more from technological advances </ins>in <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">mass production than from a continued expansion </ins>of the <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">manufacturing workforce</ins>.<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">” (19)</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Readers <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">are constantly </del>reminded throughout Ngai’s book that contemporary terms such as “alien” immediately equated to illegal Mexicans rather than a complex history of immigration restrictions of Europeans and Chinese. Thus, the book is refreshing explaining the cultural quota of American populations experienced a series of policies coinciding with combinations of economic cycles of a post-industrial period and rhetoric of maintaining an American identity. Thus, immigration reform became analogous with discussions of civil rights through a struggle for membership and recognition as a citizen. Immigration reform was particularly evident in the book’s conclusion in discussing a post-World War II America in which an influx of American Jews, Italian Americans, and Greek Americans, and others struggled for equality during the post-New Deal. While lengthy and greatly detailed, Ngai compacted many of her major points into the conclusion that American cultural pluralism was becoming more prevalent which criticizes ideas of American nativism and cultural homogenizing assimilation in the United States.  </div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Ngai skillfully and continuously focuses on pivotal points in American legislation and its enforcement such as the enforcement of Canadian and Mexican boundaries in the late 19th century which has become a popular debate in recent politics. While her book focuses mostly on the 20th century, it was necessary for Ngai to point out that the northern and southern boundaries of the United States were enforced to “deter Chinese and Europeans” and undesirable classes. (64) Weaving class conflict and creation, Ngai concludes that enforcement was the consolidation of American sovereignty over a physical territory. It was a process that led to the creation of the first land Border Control legislation in 1929. It became a misdemeanor “punishable by one-year imprisonment or $1,000 fine, or both” if an illegal alien was found and caught. (60) Subsequent punishment increased the penalty toward deportation. Untrained officers in Border Control often overextended their physical areas of arrests and apprehension by hundreds of miles which led to a review and reform of Border Patrol legislation. </ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div> </div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Over time categories of immigrants have shifted from the periphery of American citizenship to the forefront of legislative debate. Ngai describes new classes of laborers and colonial subjects. Chinese exclusion from the 19th century persevered well into the twentieth century. Marginalization of the Chinese restricted them to the Chinatown ghettos, limiting their participation in society despite the Supreme Court ruling of 1898 that American born Chinese were citizens. Ngai clarifies historical immigration intertwined with social citizenship. Chinese exclusion was elevated beyond legislation as Americans were convinced of Chinese racial un-assimilability which ultimately concluded that American born Chinese were permanent foreigners. </ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div> </div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Masterfully put together, Ngai immediately follows the Chinese assimilation theme with a study of Japanese American experience during and after World War II. In a similar situation, Japanese Americans were believed to be easily assimilated into American life. Japanese Americans bought land to farm, opened shops, and learned western traditions whereas Chinese Americans were observed to hold onto traditions. While American citizens consumed Chinese food, culture, and products, their membership into society was restricted. However, as the bombing of Pearl Harbor led to the internment of Japanese Americans, many Japanese either joined the war or could participate in legal battles for freedom. Ngai points out the distinctions that were observed between groups of immigrants, highlighting the way culture defined new perceptions of American identity and territorial sovereignty. </ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div> </div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Readers reminded throughout Ngai’s book that contemporary terms such as “alien” immediately equated to illegal Mexicans rather than a complex history of immigration restrictions of Europeans and Chinese. Thus, the book is refreshing explaining the cultural quota of American populations experienced a series of policies coinciding with combinations of economic cycles of a post-industrial period and rhetoric of maintaining an American identity.  </div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div> </div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Thus, immigration reform became analogous with discussions of civil rights through a struggle for membership and recognition as a citizen. Immigration reform was particularly evident in the book’s conclusion in discussing a post-World War II America in which an influx of American Jews, Italian Americans, and Greek Americans, and others struggled for equality during the post-New Deal. While lengthy and greatly detailed, Ngai compacted many of her major points into the conclusion that American cultural pluralism was becoming more prevalent which criticizes ideas of American nativism and cultural homogenizing assimilation in the United States.  </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>[http://videri.org/index.php?title=Guide_to_the_Literature Check out other great articles at Videri.org.]  </div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>[http://videri.org/index.php?title=Guide_to_the_Literature Check out other great articles at Videri.org.]  </div></td></tr>
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</table>Adminhttps://dailyhistory.org/index.php?title=Impossible_Subjects:_Illegal_Aliens_and_the_Making_of_Modern_America_-_Book_Review&diff=14843&oldid=prevAdmin at 17:45, 22 January 20192019-01-22T17:45:00Z<p></p>
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<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div> </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>''This article was originally published on [http://videri.org/index.php?title=Impossible_Subjects:_Illegal_Aliens_and_the_Making_of_Modern_America| Videri.org] and is republished here with their permission.''</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>''This article was originally published on [http://videri.org/index.php?title=Impossible_Subjects:_Illegal_Aliens_and_the_Making_of_Modern_America| Videri.org] and is republished here with their permission.''</div></td></tr>
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</table>Adminhttps://dailyhistory.org/index.php?title=Impossible_Subjects:_Illegal_Aliens_and_the_Making_of_Modern_America_-_Book_Review&diff=14842&oldid=prevAdmin at 17:44, 22 January 20192019-01-22T17:44:36Z<p></p>
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<td colspan="2" style="background-color: white; color:black; text-align: center;">Revision as of 17:44, 22 January 2019</td>
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<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>[[File:Impossiblesubjects.jpg|thumbnail|left|250px|<i>Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America - Book Review</i> by Mae Ngai]</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>[[File:Impossiblesubjects.jpg|thumbnail|left|250px|<i>Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America - Book Review</i> by Mae Ngai]</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>''This article was originally published on [ http://videri.org/index.php?title=Impossible_Subjects:_Illegal_Aliens_and_the_Making_of_Modern_America| Videri.org] and is republished here with their permission.''</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>''This article was originally published on [http://videri.org/index.php?title=Impossible_Subjects:_Illegal_Aliens_and_the_Making_of_Modern_America| Videri.org] and is republished here with their permission.''</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>During the 2016 election debates, candidate Trump proposed a solid wall as a solution for limiting illegal immigration from Mexico. The wall would stretch between the United States and Mexico while supporting dispersed checkpoints along the boundary. Mae Ngai, professor of Asian American Studies at Columbia University traced the intricate history of immigration legislation and construction of identities through immigration during the 20th century in her book, ''Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America''. Ngai focuses on the years 1924 to 1965, which was marked by the passage of the Johnson-Reed Immigration Act of 1924 that implemented a national origins quota system. This act signaled the beginning of politicizing immigrants into categories of undesirables such as criminals and anarchist. As Ngai described it, the codification of immigration “remapped the nation in two important ways.” (3)  First, “new ethnic and racial map based on new categories and hierarchies of difference” was drawn, and second, “a new sense of territoriality” was “marked by unprecedented awareness” through “state surveillance of the nation’s contiguous land borders.” (3)  On the path to citizenship, Ngai reveals that the fear of Chinese laborers crossing physical boundaries from Canada and Mexico were misplaced, instead many of the immigrants posed as persons who were legally admissible, often with fraudulent certificates identifying them as merchants or by claiming to be American citizens by native birth or as the China-born sons of U.S. citizens, known formally as derivative citizens” (204)</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>During the 2016 election debates, candidate Trump proposed a solid wall as a solution for limiting illegal immigration from Mexico. The wall would stretch between the United States and Mexico while supporting dispersed checkpoints along the boundary. Mae Ngai, professor of Asian American Studies at Columbia University traced the intricate history of immigration legislation and construction of identities through immigration during the 20th century in her book, ''Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America''. Ngai focuses on the years 1924 to 1965, which was marked by the passage of the Johnson-Reed Immigration Act of 1924 that implemented a national origins quota system. This act signaled the beginning of politicizing immigrants into categories of undesirables such as criminals and anarchist. As Ngai described it, the codification of immigration “remapped the nation in two important ways.” (3)  First, “new ethnic and racial map based on new categories and hierarchies of difference” was drawn, and second, “a new sense of territoriality” was “marked by unprecedented awareness” through “state surveillance of the nation’s contiguous land borders.” (3)  On the path to citizenship, Ngai reveals that the fear of Chinese laborers crossing physical boundaries from Canada and Mexico were misplaced, instead many of the immigrants posed as persons who were legally admissible, often with fraudulent certificates identifying them as merchants or by claiming to be American citizens by native birth or as the China-born sons of U.S. citizens, known formally as derivative citizens” (204)</div></td></tr>
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<p><b>New page</b></p><div>[[File:Impossiblesubjects.jpg|thumbnail|left|250px|<i>Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America - Book Review</i> by Mae Ngai]<br />
''This article was originally published on [ http://videri.org/index.php?title=Impossible_Subjects:_Illegal_Aliens_and_the_Making_of_Modern_America| Videri.org] and is republished here with their permission.''<br />
<br />
During the 2016 election debates, candidate Trump proposed a solid wall as a solution for limiting illegal immigration from Mexico. The wall would stretch between the United States and Mexico while supporting dispersed checkpoints along the boundary. Mae Ngai, professor of Asian American Studies at Columbia University traced the intricate history of immigration legislation and construction of identities through immigration during the 20th century in her book, ''Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America''. Ngai focuses on the years 1924 to 1965, which was marked by the passage of the Johnson-Reed Immigration Act of 1924 that implemented a national origins quota system. This act signaled the beginning of politicizing immigrants into categories of undesirables such as criminals and anarchist. As Ngai described it, the codification of immigration “remapped the nation in two important ways.” (3) First, “new ethnic and racial map based on new categories and hierarchies of difference” was drawn, and second, “a new sense of territoriality” was “marked by unprecedented awareness” through “state surveillance of the nation’s contiguous land borders.” (3) On the path to citizenship, Ngai reveals that the fear of Chinese laborers crossing physical boundaries from Canada and Mexico were misplaced, instead many of the immigrants posed as persons who were legally admissible, often with fraudulent certificates identifying them as merchants or by claiming to be American citizens by native birth or as the China-born sons of U.S. citizens, known formally as derivative citizens” (204)<br />
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In near granular detail, the book divided into four parts that primarily examines the beginning of immigration legislation from the 19th through 20h centuries. Specific case studies of Chinese, Filipinos, Mexicans, Japanese Americans present different cultural layers of American pluralism and demonstrate the complexity that Congressional legislation experienced. Ngai is specifically interested in quota legislation, boundaries of class through immigration, alien citizenship during World War II, and immigration reform during the Post-World War II. Throughout the book, Ngai demonstrated the contradiction with the term “illegal alien” which she argues was the product of immigration restrictions. The illegal alien became an impossible subject “whose inclusion within the nation was simultaneously a social reality and a legal impossibility.” (4) Another major theme of the book focuses on the path to citizenship which was opened to legal immigrants, but the illegal aliens that remapped territorial boundaries through travel were barred from national membership. <br />
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After World War I, the American Legion, and the American Federation of Labor brought Congress’ attention to “hordes” of “impoverished people fleeing war torn Europe were on the way” to Ellis Island. Ngai credit this attention to economic and political trends after World War I. The rise of wartime nationalism brought inflated fears of disloyal “hyphenated Americans” which prompted support for a “restrictionist movement against eastern and southern Europeans.” (19) Prior to the 1920s, the continuous growth of labor immigration saturated the needed for more, thus by the 1920s, “industrial capitalism had matured to the point where economic growth could come more from technological advances in mass production than from a continued expansion of the manufacturing workforce.” (19)<br />
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Ngai skillfully and continuously focuses on pivotal points in American legislation and its enforcement such as the enforcement of Canadian and Mexican boundaries in the late 19th century which has become a popular debate in recent politics. While her book focuses mostly on the 20th century, it was necessary for Ngai to point out that the northern and southern boundaries of the United States were enforced to “deter Chinese and Europeans” and undesirable classes. (64) Weaving class conflict and creation, Ngai concludes that enforcement was the consolidation of American sovereignty over a physical territory. It was a process that led to the creation of the first land Border Control legislation in 1929. It became a misdemeanor “punishable by one year imprisonment or $1,000 fine, or both” if an illegal alien was found and caught. (60) Subsequent punishment increased the penalty toward deportation. Untrained officers in Border Control often overextended their physical areas of arrests and apprehension by hundreds of miles which led to a review and reform of Border Patrol legislation. <br />
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As categories of immigrants shift from the periphery of American citizenship to the forefront of legislative debate. Ngai describes new classes of laborers and colonial subjects. Chinese exclusion from the 19th century persevered well into the twentieth century. Marginalization of the Chinese restricted them to the Chinatown ghettos, limiting their participation in society despite the Supreme Court ruling of 1898 that American born Chinese were citizens. Ngai clarifies historical immigration intertwined with social citizenship. Chinese exclusion was elevated beyond legislation as Americans were convinced of Chinese racial unassimilability which ultimately concluded that American born Chinese were permanent foreigners. Masterfully put together, Ngai immediately follows the Chinese assimilation theme with a study of Japanese American experience during and after World War II. In a similar situation, Japanese Americans were believed to be easily assimilated into American life. Japanese Americans bought land to farm, opened shops, and learned western traditions whereas Chinese Americans were observed to hold onto traditions. While American citizens consumed Chinese food, culture, and products, their membership into society was restricted. However, as the bombing of Pearl Harbor led to the internment of Japanese Americans, many Japanese either joined the war or could participate in legal battles for freedom. Ngai points out the distinctions that were observed between groups of immigrants, highlighting the way culture defined new perceptions of American identity and territorial sovereignty. <br />
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Readers are constantly reminded throughout Ngai’s book that contemporary terms such as “alien” immediately equated to illegal Mexicans rather than a complex history of immigration restrictions of Europeans and Chinese. Thus, the book is refreshing explaining the cultural quota of American populations experienced a series of policies coinciding with combinations of economic cycles of a post-industrial period and rhetoric of maintaining an American identity. Thus, immigration reform became analogous with discussions of civil rights through a struggle for membership and recognition as a citizen. Immigration reform was particularly evident in the book’s conclusion in discussing a post-World War II America in which an influx of American Jews, Italian Americans, and Greek Americans, and others struggled for equality during the post-New Deal. While lengthy and greatly detailed, Ngai compacted many of her major points into the conclusion that American cultural pluralism was becoming more prevalent which criticizes ideas of American nativism and cultural homogenizing assimilation in the United States. <br />
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[http://videri.org/index.php?title=Guide_to_the_Literature Check out other great articles at Videri.org.] <br />
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[[Category:20th Century History]] [[Category:Book Review]] [[Category:United States History]][[Category:Immigration History]] [[Category:Videri.org]]</div>Admin