Immigration and the Legacy of Harry S. Truman, vol. 6

These essays show that President Harry S. Truman made considerable contributions as an "immigration president," though he generally has not been given credit for immigration policy. Truman pioneered refugee admissions, was the first president to propose eliminating all racial and ethnic bars in immigration, and his commission on immigration set out reforms that became central to the epochal Immigration Act of 1965.

Shortly before leaving office, Truman received a commendation from the Association of Immigration and Nationality Lawyers for his effective and forthright work in dealing with the immigration and nationality policy of the U.S. to "ease the hazards to the nobility and dignity of individuals and regardless of race, color, creed, or national origin." They recognized what few historians or biographers have acknowledged about Truman's immigration legacy: he was the first president to come to grips with the need to eliminate discrimination in immigration laws in twentieth-century America.