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Whom We Shall Welcome: Immigration Reform During the Great Society

McLochlin, Dustin
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1404673565

Abstract Details

2014, Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, History.
This work examines the economic debate over the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 and the end of the bracero program. Although the United States was still experiencing the post-World War II economic boom in the 1960's, the John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson administrations became increasingly concerned with poverty. Through the assistance of a friendly Congress, Kennedy and Johnson signed legislation designed to provide opportunities for employment for the nation's impoverished and unemployed. As unemployment numbers dropped, geographical pockets of unemployment remained high. Yet, business needs for skilled workers persisted. Economic planners and policymakers viewed immigration as a means to meet business needs and strengthen the American economy by removing nation-based quotas and favoring occupational skills and innovation in the immigration code. However, reform detractors successfully altered the final wording of the bill away from its initial intentions, putting more emphasis on family reunification and unintentionally opening immigration increasingly to Latin America and Asia. Despite Congress's altering of the bill and the subsequent unintended consequences, my dissertation seeks to reorient the focus of the study of this piece of legislation on what Congress initially intended. By investigating War on Poverty legislation, I argue that policymakers viewed immigration reform in the 1960's as a means to further the economic planning of this decade. By studying these intentions, I hope to shed light on the economic debate surrounding immigration reform today.
Amílcar Challú (Advisor)
Stephen Ortiz (Committee Member)
Vibha Bhalla (Committee Member)
Timothy Messer-Kruse (Committee Member)
Christopher Frey (Committee Member)
208 p.
American History; History; Labor Economics
Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965; Hart-Celler Act; Bracero Program; War on Poverty; Great Society; Immigration Policy; McCarran-Walter Act; Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952; Employment Policy; Poverty Policy

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • McLochlin, D. (2014). Whom We Shall Welcome: Immigration Reform During the Great Society [Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1404673565

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • McLochlin, Dustin. Whom We Shall Welcome: Immigration Reform During the Great Society. 2014. Bowling Green State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1404673565.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • McLochlin, Dustin. "Whom We Shall Welcome: Immigration Reform During the Great Society." Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1404673565

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

bgsu1404673565
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© 2014, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.