During the late nineteenth century, growing concerns in the United States about immigration resulted in a series of laws intended to significantly curtail or ideally stop the entry of economic, medical, political, and racial undesirables. These laws denied entry to many; however, the laws also encouraged immigrants to seek alternative routes. In this timely and succinct study, Patrick Ettinger examines US efforts to control illicit immigration from 1882 to 1930 along the Canadian and, especially, Mexican borders. According to Ettinger, change and continuity characterized US government efforts. Whereas the northern and southern borders during this period changed from nominally “guarded” to heavily patrolled, despite increases in resources, illegal border crossings continued. This “ungovernability” of the border, Ettinger argues, reveals not only the limits of state power in enforcing national boundaries but immigrants’ creative and successful resistance.
According to Ettinger, 1882 marked the beginning of significant decades-long efforts to restrict entry...