The Immigration Debate: Remaking America (Kumarian Press Books for a World That Works) [Paperback]

John Isbister (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1996 | ISBN-10: 1565490533 | ISBN-13: 978-1565490536

*Examines the past and current arguments both for and against immigration

*Topics include: the US history of immigration, the structure of current immigration policies and laws, and the demographic impact of immigration on population growth



In another breakthrough book, Isbister provides readers with the historical facts and current issues of immigration, allowing the reader to navigate this complex debate. The author analyzes the short and long-term economic, ethical, social and environmental effects of immigration in America.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Isbister's third book (after The Promises Not Kept and Thin Cats) is an impressive, eloquent and engaging exploration that effectively debunks many widely held myths about the nature of immigration in America. It is both a coherent analysis of argument and statistics and a deeply personal essay. (When Isbister was a teenager, his father was Canada's Deputy Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, and Isbister himself emigrated to the U.S. in 1964). Among his insights: both sides of the debate think the opposite side is "not only unprincipled but better organized." Despite opponents who characterize today's immigration levels as massive, Isbister argues that in the context of artificially imposed controls on immigration from the 1920s through the 1960s, current immigration is average. The economic advantage of immigrants is not primarily the oft-cited exploitative one of "cheap labor," but rather the work ethic of risk-takers willing to brave the hard work and fluctuations in fortune inherent in entrepreneurial endeavors. Isbister, an economics doctorate from Princeton who teaches at UC Santa Cruz, even calls the Wall Street Journal to his defense, quoting an editorial that posits, "The problem is not too many immigrants but too few."
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

This examines the major economic and political questions surrounding contemporary immigration processes and issues, examining immigration's challenges and consequences. From reviews of today's immigrants to reflections on tomorrow's immigrant future, this considers immigration's wider and lasting issues. -- Midwest Book Review

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Kumarian Press (January 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565490533
• ISBN-13: 978-1565490536
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,337,899 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars good for beginning readers on this topic, August 10, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Immigration Debate: Remaking America (Kumarian Press Books for a World That Works) (Paperback)

Isbister is an economist and an administrator of a Californian public university where many students have immigrant backgrounds. He is pro-immigration; don't be scared. He does a good job in fleshing out the debate. However, if the reader knows about the general arguments over immigration, this book offers little new. At times, it gets bogged down in the economics behind the controversy. If I knew nothing on the matter, I would find this book quite informative. Because I know a little more than that, I wasn't especially pleased here.