Guarding the Golden Door: American Immigration Policy and Immigrants Since 1882 Book

This is an excellent primer on the history of US immigration policy, written with a refreshingly frank and blunt tone. However, it is perhaps best used as the starting point for more in-depth research and study of immigration rather than for a casual understanding of US immigration policy. That being said, if you can work your way thru Daniels' effective but dry use of immigration statistics, you will come away with a clear understanding that US immigration policy has largely been a conglomeration of smoke and mirrors to mask the undulating waves of the United States' struggle with its racist origins. This is not presented in a condemning way, but rather as Daniels writes frankly in the opening sentences:

"In the beginning Congress created the Chinese Exclusion Act. Like much of what Congress has done about immigration since then, it was conceived in ignorance, was falsely presented to the public, and had consequences undreamt by its creators."

This, in many ways, is a two sentence summary of the whole book. All evidence presented in the following pages supports and explores this concept.