Based on Freeman's model of interest group-driven migration policies, the article
gives a qualitative inside look on a neglected actor during the formative years
of US immigration reform. It analyzes the central role of the shipping companies
in coordinating the pro-immigration campaign with and against other interest
groups. Their lobbying is divided into two complementary sections: inside
top-down efforts (lobbyists) to influence legislators and outside bottom-up
efforts (migrant communities and the press) to mobilize the public. It assesses
the importance of public opinion in their lobby campaigns and the shipping
companies’ success in delaying far-reaching restrictions until 1917.
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