LibraryThing Review User Review - DarthDeverell - LibraryThing. Impossible Subjects is essential reading. Ngai describes new classes of laborers and colonial subjects. In near granular detail, the book divided into four parts that primarily examines the beginning of immigration legislation from the 19th through 20h centuries. Chinese exclusion from the 19th century persevered well into the twentieth century.
Read 38 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. The rise of wartime nationalism brought exaggerated fears of disloyal “hyphenated Americans” which prompted support for a “restrictionist movement against eastern and southern Europeans.” (19) Before the 1920s, the continuous growth of labor immigration saturated the needed for more, thus by the 1920s, “industrial capitalism had matured to the point where economic growth could come more from technological advances in mass production than from a continued expansion of the manufacturing workforce.” (19)Throughout the book, Ngai demonstrates the contradiction with the term “illegal alien” which she argues was the product of immigration restrictions. [F]or background reading of 'illegal immigration' that takes a broader view, this is an outstanding book.---David M. Reimers, International History Review"Impossible Subjects' makes an outstanding contribution to U.S. histories of race and citizenship. Impossible Subjects was Ngai’s first full-length book, and she has also published a number of works in major newspapers and academic journals. Impossible Subjects Book Description: This book traces the origins of the "illegal alien" in American law and society, explaining why and how illegal migration became the central problem in U.S. immigration policy-a process that profoundly shaped ideas and practices about citizenship, race, and state authority in the twentieth century. PDF | On Jan 1, 2007, L. R. Chavez published Anti-Nation: Review of Ngai Impossible Subjects | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ResearchGate Impossible Subjects is a sweeping re-examination of U.S. immigration in the 20th century. This era began with the passage of the Johnson-Reed Immigration Act in 1924 and ended with the lifting of national origins quotas with the passage of the Hart-Celler Act of 1965. Mae Ngai offers a close reading of the legal regime of restriction that commenced in the 1920s—its statutory architecture, judicial genealogies, administrative enforcement, differential treatment of European and non-European migrants, and long-term effects. Impossible Subjects examines the woefully understudied period between 1924 and 1965, the tenure of the national origins quota system. Ngai clarifies historical immigration intertwined with social citizenship. Impossible Subjects offers an important contribution to U.S. histories of race, citizenship, and immigration. Specific case studies of Chinese, Filipinos, Mexicans, Japanese Americans present different cultural layers of American pluralism and demonstrate the complexity that Congressional legislation experienced. While American citizens consumed Chinese food, culture, and products, their membership into society was restricted. Instead, many of the immigrants posed as persons who were legally admissible. Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America - Book Review Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America by Mae Ngai During the 2016 election debates, candidate Trump proposed a solid wall as a solution for limiting illegal immigration from Mexico. Ngai graduated from Empire State College with a B.A. Ngai points out the distinctions that were observed between groups of immigrants, highlighting the way culture defined new perceptions of American identity and territorial sovereignty.After World War I, the American Legion and the American Federation of Labor brought Congress’ attention to “hordes” of “impoverished people fleeing war-torn Europe were on the way” to Ellis Island. It became a misdemeanor “punishable by one-year imprisonment or $1,000 fine, or both” if an illegal alien was found and caught. The illegal alien became an impossible subject “whose inclusion within the nation was simultaneously a social reality and a legal impossibility.” (4) Another major theme of the book focuses on the path to citizenship which was opened to legal immigrants, but the illegal aliens that remapped territorial boundaries through travel were barred from national membership.Thus, immigration reform became analogous with discussions of civil rights through a struggle for membership and recognition as a citizen.