A new review article by DUPRI Scholar Hannah Postel traces more than 150 years of Asian immigration to the United States, showing how immigration policy has profoundly influenced who came to the country, where they settled, and the opportunities available to them. Published in the Journal of Economic Perspectives, the article synthesizes research across economics, sociology, history, and demography to provide a comprehensive overview of the forces that have shaped one of the fastest-growing populations in the United States.

Postel argues that Asian immigration cannot be understood as a single story. Instead, it reflects a series of distinct migration experiences shaped by changing U.S. laws, foreign policy, and labor demand. The article identifies three major eras of immigration policy: the period of Asian Exclusion (1882–1943), when laws sharply restricted or prohibited immigration from much of Asia; the Restriction era (1943–1965), when limited reforms allowed small numbers of immigrants and expanded opportunities for family reunification and naturalization; and the Growth and Diversification era following the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which removed national-origin quotas and transformed immigration from Asia through expanded family-, employment-, and refugee-based pathways.

The review also highlights the remarkable diversity within the Asian American population. While public discussions often treat Asian Americans as a single group, Postel emphasizes that immigrants from China, India, Japan, the Philippines, Korea, Vietnam, and other countries arrived under very different historical circumstances. These differences continue to shape where people live, the occupations they enter, and socioeconomic outcomes across generations. For example, refugee communities, highly skilled professional migrants, and family-sponsored immigrants have followed distinct paths of settlement and economic mobility, resulting in substantial variation within the broader Asian American population.

Postel also examines how historical policies continue to influence contemporary patterns of residential settlement, education, occupations, and economic inequality. The article shows that while many Asian immigrant groups have achieved high levels of educational attainment and household income, these averages mask considerable differences between national-origin groups and substantial inequality within some communities. Understanding this diversity, she argues, is essential for accurately studying immigration, race, and social mobility in the United States.

The review concludes by calling for greater scholarly attention to Asian American populations. Despite the central role that Asian immigrants have played in the development of U.S. immigration policy, Postel notes that research on Asian Americans remains comparatively limited. Improved data collection and expanded research, she argues, are necessary to better understand how immigration policy continues to shape the lives and opportunities of Asian Americans today.

Citation

Postel, Hannah M. (2026). Asian Immigration to the United States in Historical Perspective. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 40(1), 191–214. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.20251453