Immigration and the American ethos / Morris Levy, Matthew Wright.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 209-225) and index.

What do Americans want from immigration policy, and why? -- Civic fairness and group centrism -- Functional assimilation, humanitarianism and support for legal admissions -- Civic fairness and the legal-illegal divide -- Civic fairness and ethnic stereotypes -- Assimilation, civic fairness and the "circle of we" -- Conclusion.

"What do Americans want from immigration policy, and why? In the rise of a polarized and acrimonious immigration debate, leading accounts see racial anxieties and disputes over the meaning of American nationhood coming to a head. The apparent resurgence of parochial identities has breathed new life into old worries about the vulnerability of the American Creed to "tribalism." This book tells a different story, one in which creedal values remain hard at work in shaping ordinary Americans' judgments about immigration. It shows that the values of individualism, egalitarianism, humanitarianism, and the rule of law are central to Americans' beliefs about what the political community owes to its aspiring members and what they owe in return. These perceptions of "civic fairness" are the dominant guideposts by which most Americans navigate immigration controversies most of the time"-- Provided by publisher.