Introduction

Abstract

In 1965, the US Congress passed, and President Lyndon B. Johnson signed, the Immigration and Nationality Act (also known as the Hart-Celler Act), which transformed the US immigration system. The new law overturned the four-decade-old National Origins Act of 1924, which imposed a system of immigration restriction using discriminatory quotas based on country of origin. “Up for Debate” features the contributions of four scholars who were asked to reflect broadly on the 1965 law and its legacy as the bill's fiftieth anniversary approaches. Sociologist Daniel J. Tichenor and historian Mae M. Ngai examine the act's passage, consequences, accomplishments, and limitations; historian Cindy Hahamovitch explores the experiences of Jamaican immigrant farmworkers after World War II to demonstrate that other laws were more important in shaping the contours of their lives; and political scientist Christina Gabriel addresses the process and consequences of immigration law reform in Canada.