2025/05/23 by Sarah Coleman · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · #American and British Literature Analysis
paper · doi:10.1093/dh/dhaf030
openalex publication_date 2025/05/23 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
While much of the immigration history scholarship of the last forty years focuses on the development of enforcement and restrictions, Carly Goodman’s book, Dreamland: America’s Immigration Lottery in an Age of Restriction brings to light the often-ignored United States Diversity Visa Lottery program (DV lottery). In tracing the origins and development of the DV lottery, Goodman highlights the ways in which the DV lottery has played a critical role in increasing Black immigration to the United States and adds a novel insight to our understanding of the contemporary immigration system. The DV lottery program was designed to promote immigration from underrepresented countries in the wake of the changes to the 1965 Immigration Act. While initially designed to benefit white immigrants, particularly from Europe, the program evolved to provide opportunities for immigrants from African nations and other regions. Currently, every year it provides fifty thousand people from around the world a path to permanent residency.