Austin Kocher, Syracuse University geographer, published to his Substack "7 Books that Will Help You Understand Immigration." The post made me think about what materials have helped me make sense of U.S. immigration law.
As I started to study the history of Filipino nurse migration to the United States, I came across many unfamiliar legal terms.
Below I share my references for when I need to understand—at a BASIC level—immigration policy in the U.S.
Immigration has become an even hotter, divisive political issue since this book was published in 2008. I need a new reference! However, I would need one that lays out immigration law and sketches some of its history like in Victor Romero's book. Especially if I ever taught a course that covered immigrant health or nurse migration (especially regarding employment-based visas).
Social Work with Immigrants and Refugees: Legal Issues, Clinical Skills, and Advocacy by Fernando Chang-Muy and Elaine Congress (2015)
I was fortunate to take Fernando Chang-Muy's course on immigration policy, human rights, and non-profit competencies. He co-taught it with a social worker at Penn's School of Social Policy and Practice, and I was grateful as a nurse and as a budding researcher to take the class alongside future social workers. This textbook, in some of its chapters, talks about barriers to health care for immigrant and for older-adult immigrants.
I started subscribing to this think tank's newsletter since I had to read some policy briefs and articles for a graduate-level course on migration and development. I study Filipino American nurses, and Maruja M. B. Asis's articles about the Philippine's federal agencies for Overseas Filipino Workers set a basic foundation for me: Asis, 2006; Asis, 2017.
I started following Robert Webber's Substack a few months ago. His primer on U.S. immigration policy explains the basics so clearly. Find him here: Robert Webber on Substack.
My parents
My mom and my dad immigrated from the Philippines. My parents' experiences ground my work. Sometimes the best informants are the people closest to you.
If you're starting out, I hope this list helps.
Have you taught nurses/health-care professionals immigration policy? What material do you use? What would you recommend? I realize I could use newer references too!
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