This roundtable discussion features recent scholarship on histories of unauthorized European immigration to the United States. As policymakers enacted increasingly restrictionist immigration laws in the long twentieth century (1870s-2001), migrants from countries all over the world correspondingly found ways to circumvent those restrictions. Despite the fact that hundreds of thousands of European migrants were among those that came to the United States through irregular channels, narratives of “illegal” European migration to the United States have received comparatively little popular or scholarly attention – until recently.

Our discussants are part of a cohort of scholars who worked on an anthology that brings these so-called “hidden histories” to the forefront of conversations in an attempt to examine how we can use histories of unauthorized European migration to better understand ascriptions of legality, belonging, and citizenship in the United States. Specifically, scholars in this roundtable will discuss new research on various European migrant groups’ use of immigration strategies “outside of the law” to gain entry and remain in the United States. We will discuss the ubiquity of irregular migration strategies in the history of European immigration to the U.S. and interrogate possible explanations as to why such narratives remain under-emphasized in both historical literature and popular discourse. Participants will also explore how factors of race, class, gender and other cultural representations affected unauthorized European migrants’ experiences relative to other undocumented migrants in the twentieth century. Finally, discussants will situate irregular migration from Europe to the U.S. within a broader framework of intersecting literature on global migration histories, settler colonialism, and other topics.

We are particularly interested in having a conversation about how processes created and reinforced by state actions forgave, and even erased, European immigrants’ illegality by extending numerous opportunities for European immigrants to adjust their legal status and become U.S. citizens throughout the twentieth century. Their histories stand in stark contrast to the experiences of undocumented Asian, Latin American, African migrants throughout American history. Our participants’ research will show how undocumented status constituted a pathway to detention and deportation for some, even while it opened doors to American citizenship for others. Disparities in immigration opportunities and the state’s enforcement strategies of its laws, have been central in creating historical erasures have been central in the creation of narratives that have enabled some Americans to erroneously credit European immigrants with adhering to the so-called rule of law.

Given the broad range of material covered, and the intersections it offers with other fields, we are hopeful that this topic will attract broad audiences and stimulate fruitful conversations.