ABSTRACT
Immigration policy has internal and external dimensions. The external dimension—which involves “gatekeeping” between a host country and people who want to become immigrants living in the host country—addresses questions of how many, what kinds, and under what conditions prospective immigrants will be allowed to do so. U.S. immigration policy emphasizes family-based and employment-based criteria for immigrant admission, as well as admissions criteria for refugees and asylum seekers. The internal dimension of immigration policy is focused on the relationships between immigrants and their host country and its people. The U.S. approach to internal immigration policy is primarily laissez-faire and assimilationist, for the most part asking immigrants to take responsibility for their own adaptation to the country, and in doing so placing immigrants under considerable social and economic pressure to assimilate to the dominant culture and language of the country.
