JSPES, Vol. 27, No. 2 (Summer 2002 )
p. 151-165

US Immigration Policy: Asylum-Seekers and Refugees

Don Barnett

Until well into the second half of the twentieth century, immigration into the USA was largely from Europe, the continent from which the founders of the United States had themselves come. However, in recent decades this pattern has been reversed in order to favor non-European immigrants. More recently international resolutions have obligated the US and other participating countries to accept "asylum-seekers," essentially depriving these countries of control over their own immigration and future demographic composition. The author here considers the impact of these changes on US Immigration policy.