Dreamland - by Carly Goodman (Hardcover)

About the Book

"In 1990, the United States Diversity Visa Lottery became part of U.S. immigration policy. As with many U.S. immigration policies over the years, the actual lived experience of the lottery generated unintended and unexpected consequences, becoming more powerful and important than its creators could envision. Dreamland tells the story of the lottery, correcting the sometimes willful misconceptions of how it works, explaining its importance, and revealing what it has to teach us. Because the program was open to all countries that sent fewer than 50,000 immigrants in the previous five years, nearly all that had previously been shut out of the immigration system were suddenly eligible for consideration, including a vast swath of African nations. The lottery became an economic boon, as Africans provided visa-related services for fees, and used the annual event to bring in needed revenues to their photo shops, print stores, and cyber cafes. The policy fueled a rapid increase in African immigration to the United States, enriching U.S. life in the process"--

Book Synopsis

In a world of border walls and obstacles to migration, a lottery where winners can gain permanent residency in the United States sounds too good to be true. Just as unlikely is the idea that the United States would make such visas available to foster diversity within a country where systemic racism endures. But in 1990, the United States Diversity Visa Lottery was created to do just that.

Dreamland tells the surprising story of this unlikely government program and its role in American life as well as the global story of migration. Historian Carly Goodman takes readers from Washington, D.C., where proponents deployed a colorblind narrative about our "nation of immigrants" to secure visas for white immigrants, to the African countries where it flourished and fostered dreams of going to America. From the post office to the internet, aspiring emigrants, visa agents, and others embraced the lottery and tried their luck in a time of austerity and limits. Rising African immigration to the United States has enriched American life, created opportunities for mobility, and nourished imagined possibilities. But the promise of the American dream has been threatened by the United States' embrace of anti-immigrant policies and persistent anti-Black racism.

Review Quotes

"A fascinating examination of the U.S. visa lottery program, its origins, and its impact over twenty-five years. . . . Dreamland is a welcome addition to the vast historiography of U.S. immigration. Its major strengths are combining two seemingly separate stories across the Atlantic Ocean and encouraging readers to view the U.S. immigration regime from the outside, a healthy antidote to the ever-powerful parochialism. It reads like a novel rather than a traditional scholarly work and will provoke questions from anyone interested in the politics of human mobility."--Journal of American History

"Goodman skillfully employs a variety of sources, from personal interviews to archival material, to address the core issues related to the immigration lottery."--Contingent Magazine

"Carly Goodman's ambitious book Dreamland: America's Immigration Lottery in an Age of Restriction is a beautifully written history about the United States Diversity Visa (DV) Lottery, and the complex intersections of race, im/migration, policy, inequities, and the American Dream. . . . [A] formidable contribution to the fields of immigration and U.S. History."--Journal of Social History

"Simultaneously hopeful and heartbreaking, Dreamland is a welcome contribution to recent immigration and US-world history. . . . Beautifully written; [Goodman] . . . marshals an impressive array of sources and a storytelling style attentive to humor and tragedy."--H-Diplo

"A well-reasoned, evenhanded account of the immigration system . . . . Goodman offers a strong defense for the visa lottery, which is not weighted by country, allowing immigrants from all over Africa."--Kirkus Reviews

"Essential reading for those interested in the past and future of U.S. immigration policy."--Library Journal

"Goodman has written a powerful book for any citizen interested in what it means to be a nation of immigrants."--CHOICE

"Phenomenally well-researched and wide-ranging . . . . a feat . . . . Goodman hops smoothly from topics as diverse as the history of Irish immigration to the impacts of structural adjustment in West Africa to the visa lottery's role in the first internet spam incident. Goodman chose her topic well. The visa lottery is a remarkable window into the role of the United States in a highly unequal world."--Tim Hirschel-Burns, Los Angeles Review of Books

About the Author

Carly Goodman is senior editor of Made by History at the Washington Post.