Whom We Shall Welcome: Italian Americans and Immigration Reform, 1945-1965 (Critical Studies in Italian America)

Winner, Immigration and Ethnic History Society First Book Award Whom We Shall Welcome examines World War II immigration of Italians to the United States, an under-studied period in Italian immigration history. Danielle Battisti looks at efforts by Italian American organizations to foster Italian immigration along with the lobbying efforts of Italian Americans to change the quota laws. While Italian Americans (and other white ethnics) had attained virtual political and social equality with many other groups of older-stock Americans by the end of the war, Italians continued to be classified as undesirable immigrants. Her work is an important contribution toward understanding the construction of Italian American racial/ethnic identity in this period, the role of ethnic groups in U.S. foreign policy in the Cold War era, and the history of the liberal immigration reform movement that led to the 1965 Immigration Act. Whom We Shall Welcome makes significant contributions to histories of migration and ethnicity, post-World War II liberalism, and immigration policy. Cover 1 Whom We Shall Welcome 2 Title 6 Copyright 7 CONTENTS 8 Preface and Acknowledgments 10 Introduction: Boundaries of Inclusion and Exclusion in Postwar America 18 1. Italian American Identity and Politics: World War II to the Cold War 34 2. The Italian American Immigration Reform Lobby 66 3. Refugees and Relatives: Italian Americans and the Refugee Relief Act 101 4. Resettlement Assistance and “A New Standard of Living” 128 5. The Corsi Affair 164 6. From Refugee Relief to Family Reunification 192 7. The End of the National Origins System and the Limits of White Ethnic Liberalism 219 Conclusion: The Deep Roots of White Ethnicity, 1965 and Beyond 252 Notes 260 Bibliography 342 Index 360 __Whom We Shall Welcome____Whom We Shall Welcome__