This book aims to synthesize the major aspects of recent immigration to the United States, focusing on the diversity of origins of today's immigrants and their contexts of exit and on the diversity of their adaptation experiences and contexts of incorporation. The book consists of seven chapters. Chapter 1, "Who They Are and Why They Come," proposes a topology of contemporary immigrants that serves to organize the subsequent analysis of their economic, political, social, cultural, and psychological adaptation. Chapter 2, "Moving," examines immigrants' points of departure and patterns of settlement and the formation and function of new ethnic communities in the urban United States. Chapter 3, "Making It in America," looks at the incorporation of immigrants in the U.S. economy. Chapter 4, "From Immigrants to Ethnics," analyzes immigrant politics, including underlying questions of identity, loyalty, and the determinants of current patterns of naturalization. Chapter 5, "A Foreign World," focuses on the psychology of immigrant adaptation. Chapter 6, "Learning the Ropes," discusses English language acquisition, the loss or maintenance of bilingualism, and new data on educational attainment. The concluding chapter studies the origins and impact of illegal immigration. The book includes eight figures, 34 tables, and a bibliography listing 366 references. (AF)