Joel Perlmann is Senior Scholar at the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College and Research Professor at Bard College.
Joel Perlmann traces the history of U.S. classification of immigrants, from Ellis Island to the present day, showing how slippery and contested ideas about racial, national, and ethnic difference have been. His focus ranges from the 1897 List of Races and Peoples, through changes in the civil rights era, to proposals for reform of the 2020 Census.
Focusing on the immigrant experience, this book compares the socio-economic progress of late 19th and early 20th-century European immigrants with that of contemporary Mexican immigrants. Using extensive historical and current data, it highlights the challenges faced by today's unskilled arrivals in a more unequal America, particularly emphasizing high high school dropout rates among the second generation. Despite these obstacles, the author argues that Mexican Americans are making gradual progress and may eventually achieve similar success as earlier immigrant groups, especially with supportive policy interventions.