This book reframes immigration policy as an extension of American labor policy, connecting the removal of American Indians from their lands to the settlement of European immigrants across North America. It contends that states with American Indian, Asian and/or Mexican populations developed aggressive policies to promote immigration from Europe to help displace those peoples, while Southern states sought to reduce their dependency upon black labor by doing the same.

Introduction -- Tenants wanted : the promotion of immigration to the New World, 1607-1776 -- Antebellum immigration promotion by states, 1845-1860 -- Corporate immigration promotion and labor recruitment in the nineteenth century -- Selling the promised land : religious and philanthropic promotion -- Immigration promotion in the Midwest, 1865-1914 -- Immigration promotion in the West, 1865-1914 -- Immigration promotion in the South, 1865-1914 -- Conclusion -- Appendix : Tables.