Tom Gjelten: “A Nation Of Nations: A Great American Immigration Story” (Diane Rehm Show)

For decades, U.S. immigration law favored Europeans, reflecting America’s prizing of its Anglo-Saxon roots. But with the 1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act, the U.S. stopped allocating immigrant visas based on national origin. At last, people from around the world had a better chance to apply for a new life in the United States. Prior to that time, fewer than 5 percent of Americans were foreign-born. Today, that number has tripled – and has a radically different composition. Fifty years after the 1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act, a look at how America’s “founding myth of openness” has been tested, and how the law has transformed our nation in the decades since.
Interview:
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2015-09-15/tom-gjelten-a-nation-of-nations-a-great-american-immigration-story