A Nation of Immigrants [antikvár]

INTRODUCTION I know of no cause which President Kennedy championed more warmly than the improvement of our immigration policies. Our attitude toward the immigrant has gradually matured to a full appreciation of the contribution he can make and has made to American life. Much of the story of that development is set forth in this book. But recent years have witnessed a legislative lag. Every forward step in immigration legislation since World War II bore the John F. Kennedy imprint: the Displaced Persons Act and the Refugee Relief Act, which he sponsored while in Congress; the 1957 bill to bring families together, which he led to passage in the Senate; and the comprehensive reform of our law which he recommended to Congress as President. In 1958, while the fight for the 1957 amendments was still fresh, he published his first edition of this book. It was deliberately designed to provide those who were unfamiliar with this aspect of our history with an appreciation of the enormous contributions to American life made by immigrants. He felt that this understanding was essential to any future effort to eliminate the discrimination and cruelty of our immigration laws. When President Kennedy sent his historic message to Congress calling for a complete revision of the law, he decided it was also time to revise the book for use as a weapon of enlightenment in the coming legislative battle. He was working on the book at the time of the assassination. It was decided that it should be published posthumously. This legacy should not be denied those committed to the battle for immigration reform.