In many ways immigration is the quintessential transnational act: it both moves individuals and communities across national boundaries and in the process defines and redefines the nation itself. At the same time, the transnational historiographical turn has prompted historians of immigration to consider new ways of conceptualizing this history, seeing immigration not just as a process of moving from one nation to another but part of a broader series of global patterns. This roundtable session will explore transnational approaches to the history of immigration in the modern era. The interventions will center around two primary themes. Those by professors Green and Hoerder will consider the challenge posed by transnational history to the migrant experience in general, exploring how individuals and communities cope with the challenges and dislocations of leaving one home behind to find a new one. In contrast, professors Lee and FitzGerald will concentrate on the reception (or non-reception) of immigrants to the United States in the modern era, focusing in particular on fears of immigration and the ways in which America has defined itself as a nation in opposition to the influx of peoples from abroad. As a whole, the roundtable will consider how historians can speak to an issue which contemporary global significance.