Nativism and Immigration: Regulating the American Dream (New Americans: Recent Immigration and American Society)

Fry seeks to interpret historical and contemporary expressions of American nativism with reference to Blumer's group position framework. Fry interprets these initiatives as collective attempts by self-identified natives to secure or retain prior or exclusive rights to valued resources against the challenges reputedly posed by resident or prospective populations on the basis of their perceived foreignness. Fry uses the perspectives of symbolic interactionism and rational choice theory to examine the history of American immigration and immigrant policies, and the politics of immigration reform. His research underscores the importance of institutionalized boundaries, the perception of threat, and power relations in negotiating questions of immigrant admittance and membership.