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Americans at the Gate: The United States and Refugees During the Cold War

Americans at the Gate: The United States and Refugees During the Cold War

Author: Carl J. Bon Tempo
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 9780691166575
Published In: July 2015
Format: Paperback
Jurisdiction: U.S. ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only

HKD 292.60

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Unlike the 1930s, when the United States tragically failed to open its doors to Europeans fleeing Nazism, the country admitted over three million refugees during the Cold War. This dramatic reversal gave rise to intense political and cultural battles, pitting refugee advocates against determined opponents who at times successfully slowed admissions.

The first comprehensive historical exploration of American refugee affairs from the midcentury to the present, Americans at the Gate explores the reasons behind the remarkable changes to American refugee policy, laws, and programs.

Carl Bon Tempo looks at the Hungarian, Cuban, and Indochinese refugee crises, and he examines major pieces of legislation, including the Refugee Relief Act and the 1980 Refugee Act.

He argues that the American commitment to refugees in the post-1945 era occurred not just because of foreign policy imperatives during the Cold War, but also because of particular domestic developments within the United States such as the Red Scare, the Civil Rights Movement, the rise of the Right, and partisan electoral politics.

Using a wide variety of sources and documents, Americans at the Gate considers policy and law developments in connection with the organization and administration of refugee programs.

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgments

INTRODUCTION: Americans at the Gate

CHAPTER 1: "The Age of the Uprooted Man": The United States and Refugees, 1900-1952

CHAPTER 2: "A Mystic Maze of Enforcement": The Refugee Relief Program

CHAPTER 3: "From Hungary, New Americans": The United States and Hungarian Refugees

CHAPTER 4: "Half a Loaf": The Failure of Refugee Policy and Law Reform, 1957-1965

CHAPTER 5: "They Are Proud People": The United States and Refugees from Cuba, 1959-1966

CHAPTER 6: "The Soul of Our Sense of Nationhood": Human Rights and Refugees in the 1970s

CHAPTER 7: Reform and Retrenchment: The Refugee Act of 1980 and the Reagan Administration's Refugee Policies

EPILOGUE: The United States and Refugees after the Cold War

Notes