Katherine Benton-Cohen explores the racial and immigration history of the United States, particularly within borderlands. Her work investigates how racial identity was constructed and how labor and immigration conflicts intertwined with the history of the American West. The way she describes complex social and political dynamics reveals to readers a deeper understanding of American society's formation. Her research emphasizes the historical roots of contemporary immigration debates and issues of racial categorization.
The Dillingham Commission-created by Congress in 1907 to collect data on a perceived immigration problem-remains the largest U.S. immigration study ever conducted. Katherine Benton-Cohen shows that its Progressive formulation and recommendations endure in almost every component of immigration policy, control, and enforcement a century later.