After They Closed the Gates: Jewish Illegal Immigration to the United States, 1921-1965

by Libby Garland

In 1921 and 1924, the United States passed laws to sharply reduce the influx of immigrants into the country. By allocating only small quotas to the nations of southern and eastern Europe, and banning almost all immigration from Asia, the new laws were supposed to stem the tide of foreigners considered especially inferior and dangerous. However, immigrants continued to come, sailing into the port of New York with fake passports, or from Cuba to Florida, hidden in the holds of boats loaded with contraband liquor. Jews, one of the main targets of the quota laws, figured prominently in the new international underworld of illegal immigration. However, they ultimately managed to escape permanent association with the identity of the “illegal alien” in a way that other groups, such as Mexicans, thus far, have not.

In  After They Closed the Gates,  Libby Garland tells the untold stories of the Jewish migrants and smugglers involved in that underworld, showing how such stories contributed to growing national anxieties about illegal immigration. Garland also helps us understand how Jews were linked to, and then unlinked from, the specter of illegal immigration. By tracing this complex history, Garland offers compelling insights into the contingent nature of citizenship, belonging, and Americanness.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Judaism

312 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Caitlin]

kind of jumped from the early 30s to post 1965 and missed opportunities for gender analysis

[John Keller · Rating 5 out of 5]

The compendious research doesn't inhibit the book's approachability, and, even though the author focuses on this period in the past from '21 to '65, the book offers fascinating (at times quite surprising) facts, details, statistics and stories that offer a complex portrait of Jewish immigration that also contextualizes present-day American immigration, and the history of American immigration in general. Most compelling (for me) was the role various figures—rabbis, lawyers, etc.—played in the story, their understanding of their role and the impact of their decisions, the respect for and devotion to America and its laws and its own unique place in the world and history, and how these decisions, among other elements, helped to shape the identity and perception of these immigrants, who, as the book's description points out, "ultimately managed to escape permanent association with the identity of the 'illegal alien' in a way that other groups, such as Mexicans, thus far, have not." A fascinating read.

[Cat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting look at historical illegal immigration in the 20s and 30s and how American (and American-bound) Jews tried to challenge certain aspects without endangering their precarious respectability (and how that affected later immigration culture/reform, both for good and for ill, post-1965).

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gave me a lot to think about as it relates to my family, which is why I picked up this book.

[Kenny]

good book