Remaking America: The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 and Its Impact
Remaking America: The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 and Its Impact
On November 12, 2015, the Center for the History of the New America at the University of Maryland will host a one-day conference marking the fiftieth anniversary of the Immigration and National Act of 1965 (also known as the Hart-Celler Act). The conference will explore the policy implications of the revised immigration framework created by the Act and the impact of the Act on communities in the United States and abroad.
The Hart-Celler Act abolished the national origins quota system that had structured American immigration policy since the 1920s, replacing it with a system that opened the doors for the migration of African, Asian, Caribbean, and Latin American peoples. At present some 40 million (nearly 13 percent of the American people) are immigrants. Today’s immigrants arrive from around the world and are incredibly diverse in terms of racial, cultural, and religious identity. This conference will consider the legacy of the Act and the ways that new immigrant populations have profoundly influenced American culture and society.
Erika Lee, Director of the Immigration History Research Center and the Rudolph J. Vecoli Chair in Immigration History at the University of Minnesota, will deliver a keynote address.
This event is co-sponsored bythe Department of History, Department of Antrhopology, Department of American Studies, Maryland Population Research Center, Department of Asian American Studies, and MLAW.
9:00 am
Welcome and Introductory Remarks
9:30 am
Session One: Immigrants and Migrants in the New America
Chair: Christina Getrich (University of Maryland, College Park)
Jennifer Bickham Mendez (College of William and Mary)
Christina M. Greer (Fordham University)
Sam Vong (University of Texas at Austin)
11:30 am
Keynote Address by Erika Lee, (University of Minnesota)
"Immigrant America at the Crossroads: Fifty Years after the 1965 Immigration Act"
1:00 pm
Lunch
2:30 pm
Session 2: The Hart-Celler Act and Its Legacy
Chair: Ruth Wasem (Library of Congress)
Nancy Foner (Hunter College)
Rogers Smith (University of Pennsylvania)
Jan Padios (University of Maryland, College Park)
For more information and speaker bios click here.