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Three Worlds of Relief examines the role of race and immigration in the development of the American social welfare system by comparing how blacks, Mexicans, and European immigrants were treated by welfare policies during the Progressive Era and the New Deal. Taking readers from the turn of the twentieth century to the dark days of the Depression, Cybelle Fox finds that, despite rampant nativism, European immigrants received generous access to social welfare programs. The communities in which they lived invested heavily in relief. Social workers protected them from snooping immigration agents, and ensured that non-citizenship and illegal status did not prevent them from receiving the assistance they needed. But that same helping hand was not extended to Mexicans and blacks. Fox reveals, for example, how blacks were relegated to racist and degrading public assistance programs, while Mexicans who asked for assistance were deported with the help of the very social workers they turned to for aid. Drawing on a wealth of archival evidence, Fox paints a riveting portrait of how race, labor, and politics combined to create three starkly different worlds of relief. She debunks the myth that white America's immigrant ancestors pulled themselves up by their bootstraps, unlike immigrants and minorities today. Three Worlds of Relief challenges us to reconsider not only the historical record but also the implications of our past on contemporary debates about race, immigration, and the American welfare state.

Welfare state --- Immigrants --- State, Welfare --- Economic policy --- Public welfare --- Social policy --- State, The --- Welfare economics --- Emigrants --- Foreign-born population --- Foreign population --- Foreigners --- Migrants --- Persons --- Aliens --- History --- Government policy --- Social conditions --- United States --- Race relations --- Immigrants - United States - Social conditions - 20th century --- Immigrants - Government policy - United States - History - 20th century --- Welfare state - United States - History - 20th century --- United States - Race relations - History - 20th century --- Aid to Dependent Children. --- American social welfare. --- American taxpayers. --- American welfare state. --- Americanization. --- Civil Works Administration. --- Civilian Conservation Corps. --- European immigrants. --- Federal Emergency Relief Administration. --- Great Depression. --- Immigration Service. --- Mexican dependency. --- Mexican immigrants. --- Mexican non-citizens. --- New Deal. --- Old Age Assistance. --- Progressive Era. --- Public Works Administration. --- Social Security Act. --- Unemployment Insurance. --- Works Progress Administration. --- black immigrants. --- charity funds. --- citizenship restrictions. --- citizenship. --- dependent aliens. --- deportable aliens. --- deportation laws. --- discrimination. --- economic assimilation. --- economic burden. --- federal immigration. --- illegal aliens. --- immigration laws. --- immigration. --- labor market. --- labor. --- legal status restrictions. --- mass-removal programs. --- means-tested programs. --- national origin "as. --- nativism. --- naturalization. --- non-citizenship. --- northern relief system. --- political systems. --- politics. --- private donations. --- public funding. --- race. --- racial assimilation. --- racial discrimination. --- racial patterning. --- raids. --- regional political economies. --- regional variations. --- relief agencies. --- relief assistance. --- relief officials. --- relief policies. --- relief provision. --- relief services. --- relief systems. --- relief. --- repatriation programs. --- social burden. --- social citizenship. --- social insurance programs. --- social position. --- social welfare system. --- social welfare. --- social workers. --- socioeconomic mobility. --- southwestern relief system. --- welfare state development. --- welfare state. --- dependent noncitizens. --- noncitizens.