It sold out in its first printing and is currently in a third printing. Amity Shlaes is a Hoover Institution media fellow and the youngest member of the Wall Street Journal s editorial board, where she writes editorials on tax policy. Published in 1986, the study was the first large-scale survey covering the history, politics, and culture of all major Hispanic groups in this country. Authors Peter Duignan and the late Lewis H. Gann provide an updated epilogue covering the period from 1986 to 1998, including the impact of the 1986 law giving citizenship to 1.3 million illegal immigrants. The book accepts that the 1996 immigration bills have strengthened border enforcement measures but concludes that more authority is needed in the workplace and to stop entry at airports, document fraud, and smuggling.
Bilingual education is judged a failure.
Reforms are suggested to help the INS stem the flow of illegal immigrants, and it is proposed that the number of legal immigrants be cut to roughly 500,000 a year. The study argues that immigration is a positive experience for both the newcomers and the local communities into which they immigrate. A preference is expressed for an immigration policy designed to attract people with skills, technical qualifications, and capital, rather than those who might place a burden on the welfare system. The book also examines the Spanish legacy of the Southwest, the beginnings of extensive Mexican immigration after the turn of the century, socioeconomic changes brought about by World War I, and changes in the demographic composition of the nation as a result of later immigration. Gann was a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution.