US Immigration, Citizenship, and Birthright History: A Reading List

As the first university press in the South, UNC Press pioneered in tackling issues of the day through the honest, and sometimes gritty, lens of reality, in order to challenge the status quo in a historically diverse and complex region. Our association with the oldest public university in the nation inspires in us a commitment to bring new and established peer-reviewed research to academic and general audiences—notably recognized for our publishing on US and world history—a mission that informs all we do.

Learn the histories of US immigration, citizenship, and birthright through the following selection of UNC Press titles. Request them at your library, or order directly via uncpress.org and receive a 30% discount on print format books using promo code 01SOCIAL30.

The Birth Certificate: An American History by Susan J. Pearson
“A crucial contribution to the study of age as a category of analysis…. Pearson’s work will be thought provoking for scholars and students alike.”—Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth

Dreamland: America’s Immigration Lottery in an Age of Restriction by Carly Goodman
“Phenomenally well-researched and wide-ranging . . . Goodman hops smoothly from topics as diverse as the history of Irish immigration to the impacts of structural adjustment in West Africa to the visa lottery’s role in the first internet spam incident. Goodman chose her topic well. The visa lottery is a remarkable window into the role of the United States in a highly unequal world.”—Los Angeles Review of Books

National Insecurities: Immigrants and U.S. Deportation Policy since 1882 by Deirdre M. Moloney
“National Insecurities displays strong engagement with secondary literature and manifests and illuminates a great deal of original research on immigration control. . . . Graduate students and researchers interested in such matters would benefit significantly from carefully reading it.”—International Migration Review

Detention Empire: Reagan’s War on Immigrants and the Seeds of Resistance by Kristina Shull
“Despite Detention Empire‘s focus on Reagan’s foundational actions during the 1980s, it offers a bipartisan critique. . . . Shull’s highly personal experiences and deep political commitments are made explicit, making this book an unusually passionate and successful presentation of this important topic.”—Journal of American History

Behind Crimmigration: ICE, Law Enforcement, and Resistance in America by Felicia Arriaga
“Arriaga offers a novel and important contribution to contemporary research examining the interconnectedness of local law enforcement officials (LEOs) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).”—Ethnic and Racial Studies

Closing the Golden Door: Asian Migration and the Hidden History of Exclusion at Ellis Island
by Anna Pegler-Gordon
“Pegler-Gordon deserves credit for taking on a very large subject and transforming it into a coherent and well-organized narrative. . . . In our current age of official bans on immigration and refugees, it is worthwhile to have a historical insight into the management of marginalized aliens.”—Nichi Bei

Colors of Confinement: Rare Kodachrome Photographs of Japanese American Incarceration in World War II edited by Eric L. Muller
“This is a testament to the incredible power of photography. Even one frame can change the tide of public opinion because photography has the power to add layers to our understanding of how events transpired and how people were affected.”—Washington Post