6/7/26 - 'Riff Raff,' Refugees and Nativism: A Century of Immigration Policy

Immigration has defined American political life for decades — and today's debates may feel unprecedented, but they are not. From the Chinese Exclusion Act to the Immigration Act of 1924, the United States has been here before: moments when anti-immigrant sentiment hardened into law, when nativist arguments drowned out other voices, and when the question of who belongs in America was answered with restriction rather than welcome. Dr. Vought traces the history of nativism and immigration legislation that forms the backdrop for our current moment — and shows us that the arguments we're hearing today have deep, instructive roots. A perfect opening to a UCHS season exploring who came to Ulster County, why they came, and what they built.

About the Presenter

Dr. Hans P. Vought is Professor of History and Chair of the Social Sciences, History, and Education Department at SUNY Ulster, where he has spent his career teaching American history, immigration and ethnicity, and the history of Native and African American communities. He holds a Ph.D. in History from the University of Connecticut and is the author of The Bully Pulpit and the Melting Pot: American Presidents and the Immigrant, 1897–1933 — a sweeping examination of how the nation's chief executives have shaped, restricted, and responded to immigration across more than three decades of profound national change.

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