MICHAEL C. LEMAY is a Professor of Political Science at Frostburg State College in Maryland.

• Preface An Overview of U.S. Immigration Policy Introduction: The Importance of Immigration The Waves of Immigration The Four Phases of U.S. Immigration Policy: The Open-Door Era; The Door-Ajar Era; The Pet-Door Era; The Dutch-door Era Current and Future Trends Chapter Endnotes The Open Door Era, 1820-1880 Introduction The Old-Immigration Wave Nativist Political Reaction The Civil and Post-Civil War Years The Recessions of the 1870s: New Calls for Restrictionism Chapter Endnotes The Door-Ajar Era Introduction: The Change in Immigrant Waves The New Immigrants' Pattern The Immigration Acts of the 1880s: The First Restrictionist Laws The Depression of the 1890s and Subsequent Laws The 1900s and Further Attempts at Restrictionism The Pre-World War I Years The Post-World War I Years Chapter Endnotes The Pet-Door Era Introduction: The Immigration Act of 1917 The Quota Act of 1921 The Immigration Act of 1924 The National Origins Act of 1929 The Great Depression Decade The World War II Years Chapter Endnotes The Dutch-Door Era The Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1952 The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1956 The 1976 Amendment to the Immigration and Nationality Act and the 1980 Refugee Act Chapter Endnotes Current Law and Future Trends Introduction Recent Trends in Immigration Asian Immigration Hispanic-Americans Some Major Problems Current Proposals to Revise Immigration Laws Passage of the 1986 Act Conclusion Chapter Endnotes Bibliography Index