ABSTRACT
The new immigration's effects on the future size and shape of the US population are enormous. During the 1980s the courts rendered many pro-alien decisions concerning the asylum, due process, and equal protection rights of deportable aliens. These decisions made it easier for undocumented workers to enter, remain, work, raise families, and resist deportation. Although socioeconomic competition between black Americans and other ethnic groups goes back to colonial times, the immigration of the 1980s and 1990s has added new twists. Four aspects of the conflict are especially important: job competition, competition for public benefits, differentiation within the black community, and differentiation among ethnic groups. The mythology and imagery of immigration have always been powerful ideological forces in American life. During the 1980s these forces produced some striking shifts in public policies and attitudes in favor of expanded immigration. The new immigration is transforming the conception, complexion, and contours of civil rights politics.
