Immigration, the hallmark issue of the Trump presidency, was front page news all year. Assaults on birthright citizenship, Trump’s family separation policy, a new proposed public charge rule, the asylum ban, the lowest refugee cap ever, fearmongering the migrant caravan,…
Rohma A. Khan, “South Asian Immigrant Cab Drivers in New York City”
The romance of the “American dream” thrives in the minds of many immigrants as they make their journey across the waters. The American dream, however, is often at odds with the South Asian concept of the homeland. Immigrants from Pakistan,…
Gerson Rosales, “Salvadoreños in Michigan: Deliverance activism in the Midwest during the 1980s”
In my research, I discovered the stories of two teenagers who arrived at First Presbyterian Church in Ann Arbor, MI in late fall 1984. The chilly Michigan autumn must have been the coldest weather they had ever felt. Their arrival…
Alison Clark Efford, “In the Trump era, supporting our immigrant and international students is critical work”
At the April 2018 meeting of the Organization of American Historians, IEHS hosted a chat on supporting students who are immigrants featuring Ana Elizabeth Rosas (University of California, Irvine) and Rachel Ida Buff (University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee). The lunchtime…
In 2017 IEHS scholars made history
In 2017, historians entered the fray. Immigration and ethnic history society scholars, especially, have been called to bring historical thinking and analysis to policy issues and public debates about immigration, citizenship, borders, white supremacy, and vulnerable and marginalized communities. Not…
Lori A. Flores, “Our Thanksgiving Meals Are Eaten, But The Fight for Farm Workers’ Rights Is Still on the Table”
The day after Thanksgiving in 1960, CBS aired an hour-long documentary hosted by Edward R. Murrow called Harvest of Shame which graphically depicted the poverty and despair of migrant farmworkers across the United States. Its strategic premiere date aimed to…
Eladio Bobadilla, “It’s Giving Back to the Community”: Historians of race and ethnicity should take sports seriously
We are living in extraordinary times. The late historian Howard Zinn once remarked that the world we live in is “topsy-turvy.” But Zinn died during the presidency of Barack Obama. The world, it might have seemed, was tentatively moving in…
