Political discourse on immigration in the UK and the USA from the 1950s to the 1980s

Abstract

Despite having vastly different historical and geographical experiences with immigration, both the United Kingdom and the United States of America now have political parties that express similar anti-immigrant political rhetoric and have implemented or attempted to implement comparable policy responses to immigration in recent years. The purpose of this article will be to explore and compare historical political discourse to provide a better understanding of British and American immigration. The focus will be on the post-World War II era up to the 1980s, with political party manifestos and party platforms from late 1970s and 1980s elections, as well as speeches, interviews, and press conferences by national leaders. Claims that the borders are broken and out of control, as well as recent criticisms of immigration by political parties and leaders in both the United Kingdom and the United States, while often fiercer than before, are simply a continuation of decades of anti-immigrant hostility, with periods of openness and restrictionism in both.