The Politics of Immigration Reform

Introduction

The immigration issue seems insistently with us in the late 2000s, though immigration policy seems persistently elusive. Seeking an intellectual handle on this disjunction, a cluster of Forum authors focus on immigration politics in its many forms. Daniel Tichenor maps the difficult terrain for policymaking in this realm, while Ben Marquez and John Witte address alternative congressional strategies for making immigration policy. Randall Hansen looks at American policy in comparative perspective, while Peter Schuck raises the possibility of giving the individual states wider latitude to legislate. Peter Skerry argues that observers have misperceived the reality of immigration politics and policy; Jack Citrin and Matthew Wright link notions of American identity with public preferences in this realm; while Gary Freeman considers the inescapable links between immigration and welfare policy. Among reviews, Daniel DiSalvo considers Christopher Caldwell, Reflections on the Revolution in Europe: Immigration, Islam, and the West. In other pieces, Gregory Koger analyzes the agenda-setting choices of President Obama and Democratic congressional leaders, Matthew Grossman asks how political scientists differ from political practitioners in thinking about election campaigns, and Brendon O’Connor reviews Sergio Fabbrini, America and Its Critics: Virtues and Vices of the Democratic Hyperpower, with a response from Fabbrini.