Americans in Waiting: The Lost Story of Immigration and Citizenship in the United States

Americans in Waiting blends a thorough analysis of the turbulent history of U.S. citizenship and immigration with a normative legal theory of what ought to be done. Motomuro, a leading immigration law scholar, evades overly obfuscating legal jargon in lieu of style that can be enjoyed by any reader from all degrees of background knowledge. Motomuro breaks legal immigration down into three views: immigration as contract, immigration as affiliation, and immigrants in transition, or what he otherwise terms as "Americans in Waiting." The third category is what Motomuro is most concerned with, hence the title of the book. Americans in Waiting are legal immigrants who are on a path to citizenship, but who have not or cannot naturalize yet (i.e: either they have not met the legal naturalization waiting period of 3-5 years for Legal Permanent Residents, administrative backlog, etc). While Motomuro argues that rights should be extended to this status of persons, such as voting, access to public benefits, and family reunification rights, he still believes there is reason for Americans in Waiting to remain a separate category from full-citizens. One categorical difference he believes should remain in tact is deportability for criminal acts. By recapturing key court cases, Motomuro traces the development of alienage law as we know it today and he also provides good reason for why his articulation is desirable for America and its future as a people. I have been studying U.S. immigration and citizenship quite thoroughly for about a year now, but it was not until reading this book that so many key terms and distinctions between different statuses became so coherent. Motomuro sheds much clarity and insight onto a highly complex and vital social and political issue. Excellent all around!

more people should read this well written piece of non fiction. the trouble is that few of our generation honestly know the details about America and rely on the telegraphic info of Fox news instead of gaining true knowledge.