I originally published this post in 2020 in the middle of the pandemic to highlight books that had come out very recently at the time. I was working from home at the time and reading a lot in the evenings. But I was also concerned, as many people were, about whether books that were published that year would get adequate attention given that no one could really go on book tours—a significant part of raising awareness about a new book.
You missed one: Jerry Kammer's "Losing Control: How a Left-Right Coalition Blocked Immigration Reform and Provoked the Backlash that Elected Trump." Likely dismissed by many who lean left because it was published by the right-leaning CIS. But by far the best book on the recent politics of immigration.
From my Amazon review: Kammer worked the immigration beat as a reporter for decades, and he spent years researching this book. It may upend every assumption you've ever made about immigration reform, but his thorough investigation and penetrating analysis will leave you more well-informed than almost anyone who hasn't read this book. You'll also be better equipped to participate in the ongoing political debates about immigration reform, and maybe by understanding what's gone wrong since IRCA in 1986 and why the right opposes any form of amnesty (even DACA) and why the left opposes employment verification, you might even be able to play a role in building the compromise that we need to create another IRCA—which is what Kammer wants, too; only one that makes good on the promise of employment verification.
Laws Harsh as Tigers: Chinese Immigrants and the Shaping of Modern Immigration Law
Book by Lucy E. Salyer
You missed one: Jerry Kammer's "Losing Control: How a Left-Right Coalition Blocked Immigration Reform and Provoked the Backlash that Elected Trump." Likely dismissed by many who lean left because it was published by the right-leaning CIS. But by far the best book on the recent politics of immigration.
From my Amazon review: Kammer worked the immigration beat as a reporter for decades, and he spent years researching this book. It may upend every assumption you've ever made about immigration reform, but his thorough investigation and penetrating analysis will leave you more well-informed than almost anyone who hasn't read this book. You'll also be better equipped to participate in the ongoing political debates about immigration reform, and maybe by understanding what's gone wrong since IRCA in 1986 and why the right opposes any form of amnesty (even DACA) and why the left opposes employment verification, you might even be able to play a role in building the compromise that we need to create another IRCA—which is what Kammer wants, too; only one that makes good on the promise of employment verification.