

Professor
Fellow, Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture University of Virginia
Contributing Editor, American Purpose; Senior Editor, Society
McGuinn Hall Room 228
Telephone: 617-552-3112
Email: peter.skerry@bc.edu
Immigration/refugee policy and politics
Racial, ethnic, and religious pluralism in the U.S.
Islam in American society and politics
Societal change and political institutions
Racial and Ethnic Politics; Immigration Policy
Peter Skerry is professor of political science at BostonCollege and a Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at theUniversity of Virginia. He is also a contributing editor at American Purpose and a member of the editorialboard of Society. He waspreviously professor of political science at Claremont McKenna College, andtaught political science at UCLA, where he was Director of Washington Programsat the Center for American Politics and Public Policy. He is currently on the Research and ProgramsCommittee of the Board of Directors of the Pioneer Institute in Boston. He previously served on the board of theUnited Neighborhood Organization (UNO), a Chicago-based Latino communityorganization and charter school operator.
He was also Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and aResearch Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. He served as co-convenor of the Brookings-Duke Immigration Policy Roundtable, and as co-director of theDialogue on Islam in America at the American Enterprise Institute. He was a member of the Malta Forum, adialogue between Western and Muslim public intellectuals convened by theInstitute for American Values. He servedon the Advisory Council on European/Transatlantic Issues at the Heinrich Böll Foundationof the Bündis 90/Die Grünen (the German Green Party). He has been awarded residential fellowshipsat the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the American Academyin Berlin, and the Russell Sage Foundation.
Professor Skerry has published ina variety of scholarly and general interest publications, including Society, Publius, Journal of PolicyHistory, The Forum, The New Republic, Slate, The Public Interest, The WilsonQuarterly, National Review, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, National Affairs, the ±Standard, First Things, Foreign Affairs, The American Interest, and American Purpose.
He is author of Countingon the Census: Race, Group Identity, and the Evasion of Politics (Brookings) and MexicanAmericans: The Ambivalent Minority (Free Press/Harvard University Press),which was awarded the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. He is currently completing a study of Muslimsin the United States, From theBrotherhood to the Neighborhood: Muslims in American Society and Politics.
2024
"Mr. Trump, Give Up on That Wall,"National Review(December 2024)
"Insane Asylum: On immigration disaster," National Review (June 2024)
"The Little Lady with the Snake Tongs," American Purpose (January 2024)
2023
"Are Muslims at Home in America?" National Review (October, 2 2023)
2022
"Exploiting Migrants: A Game Anyone Can Play," American Purpose (October 3, 2022)
2021
"What We Can Learn from Our Relatively Open Borders," Cato Unbound: A Journal of Debate(July 27, 2021)
"Why ‘Black Lives Matter’ Matters,” National Affairs (Spring 2021)
“Puritans' Progress: Lawrence Mead and the Question of American Culture,” The Hedgehog Review (Spring 2021)
“Report to the Smith Richardson Foundation on Immigration Research and Writing” (December 4, 2021).
2020
“Border Fight: Regaining Control,” essay review of Losing Control: How a Left-Right Coalition Blocked Immigration Reform and Provoked the Backlash That Elected Trump by Jerry Kammer; The American Interest (July 15, 2020).
Regaining Control, The American Interest, July, 2020
, Georgetown University, Berkley Center, January 23, 2020
2019
"Lost in the Fog - Immigrants & Refugees, Bureaucrats, Activists" The Forum: A Journal of Applied Research in contemporary Politics(Volume 17, Issue 3; October 2019).
Populism-The American Interest, September 3, 2019
Populism- The American Interest, September 4, 2019
"Will the Real Populists Please Stand Up- Or Perhaps Sit Down and Chill",The American Interest(September 3, 2019) [Part I of one].
The Dead End of "More Democracy", The American Interest (September 4, 2019) [Part II of two].
"Nathan Glazer- Merit Before Meritocracy," The American Interest (April 3, 2019)
“Becoming White,”essay review of Whiteshift: Populism, Immigration, and the Future of White Majorities by Eric Kaufmann; The Claremont Review of Books (Fall 2019).
A conversation with Antje Hermenau,The American Interest, (March 9, 2019),transcribed and edited interview conducted with TAI editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Gedmin, of a former leader of the German Green Party and member of the Bundestag who was expelled from the party for engaging with leaders of the AfD Party and their sympathizers.
Dancing Around the Caravan:The Media, The Left, and The Catholic Church,” The American Interest (January 8, 2019).
Explaining the Indefensible: Trump and the Border Crisis,” The American Interest (July 30, 2018).
“Comprehensive Immigration Confusion,” in Carol Swain, ed., Debating Immigration, Second Edition (Cambridge University Press, 2018)
“Good Neighbors and Good Citizens: Beyond the Legal-Illegal Immigration Debate,” (with Noah Pickus) in Carol Swain, ed., Debating Immigration, Second Edition (Cambridge University Press, 2018)
2017
Comprehensive Immigration Confusion
"American Brotherhood:The Muslim Brothers Are Present in the United States, But Not a Threat” Foreign Affairs (April 8, 2017; on-line)
"Opposing Immigration Wasn’t Always Racist,"Boston Globe (April 16, 2017)
"Mexican Americans: New Guys on the Block" (with Juan R. Rangel), The Weekly Standard (February 13, 2017)
2016
"Christmas with the Brotherhood"Society (September/October 2016)
“A Young Man at the Periphery of the Profession” in Joseph Dorman and Leslie Lenkowsky, eds., When Ideas Mattered: A Nathan Glazer Reader (Transaction, 2016)
“The Migration: A Lesson from the US,” Clingendael: Netherlands Institute of International Relations (8 November 2016; on-line)
“Comprehensive Immigration Confusion,” National Affairs (Fall 2016)
“Nathan Glazer: An Appreciation,” National Affairs (Spring 2016)
2015
"?" (review essay ofHeadscarves and Hymens: Why the Middle East Needs a Sexual Revolutionby Mona Eltahawy) inThe American Interest(October 3, 2015; on-line)
"Clash of Generations:The Cultural Contradictions of Islam in America,"The Weekly Standard (December 28, 2015/January 4, 2016)
"Imagine No Religion"(review essay ofHeretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Nowby Ayaan Hirsi Ali) inClaremont Review of Books(Summer 2015)
"" (review essay of Immigration Outside the Law by Hiroshi Motomura) in The American Interest (March 12, 2015; on-line)
2014
"Time To Bring the Immigration Debate Out of ‘The Shadows’,” The Weekly Standard (December 15, 2014)
“Assimilation Is a Necessary and Brutal Bargain,” Liberty Law Forum (October 20, 2014)
,(August 18/25, 2014)
2013
“.”Orange County Register(October 10, 2013).
“.”The Weekly Standard(August 12, 2013)
“.”The Weekly Standard (June 24, 2013)
“.”The Weekly Standard, (May 6, 2013)
“,” The Business of Immigration Is More Than Business,” The Weekly Standard (April 15, 2013)
“.” Policy Brief(Progressive Policy Institute) March 2013.
“.”The Weekly Standard (February 25, 2013)
“Splitting the Difference on Illegal Immigration.”National Affairs(Winter 2013)
“A Path to Citizenship – or a Maze?” Boston Globe (February 25, 2013)
2012
“.”Society (January/February 2012)
[reprinted in Muslims in America, edited volume published by Al Mesbar Studies and Research Center; Dubai, UAE, 2011]
“A Third Way on Immigration,” Los Angeles Times (December 16, 2012)
“Memorial Day With Muslims,” Worcester Telegram and Gazette (June 6, 2012)
2011
“,”National Affairs(Fall 2011)
“.”World Affairs, (July/August 2011)
“,” with Gary J. Schmitt.Christian Science Monitor (March 10, 2011)
“,” with Gary J. Schmitt.Boston Globe, (January 29, 2011)
“Moving On Up” (review of From Immigrants to Americans by Jacob Vigdor); Claremont Review of Books (Fall 2010)
“Gingrich vs. the Immigration Status Quo,” Wall Street Journal (November 30, 2011)
2010
“.” Ijtihad (on-line journal, published by the Institute for American Values); June 2010.
“Hispanic Politics (1976-2009), Encyclopedia of U.S. Political History(CQ Press, 2010).
“,” review ofFrom Immigrants to Americans, by Jacob Vigdor.Claremont Review of Books, Fall.
“.”Boston Globe(August 19, 2010)
“.: Ineffective Policies Do Little But Energize Advocacy Groups,”Boston Globe (August 3, 2010).
“.”Boston Globe, ( May 18, 2010)
“Know Thy Neighbor,” (review ofMuslims in America:A Short History, by Edward E. Curtis IV);Wilson Quarterly(Winter 2010)
“Why ‘Comprehensive Immigration Reform’ Is Not Comprehensive,” The Forum (July 2009; Vol. 7, Issue 3)
“The Crude Moralism of Immigration Expansionists,” Firstthings.com (May 17,2010)
2009
“Breaking the Immigration Stalemate: From Deep Disagreements to Constructive Proposals,”(principal author), Report of the Brookings-Duke Immigration Policy Roundtable (Washington: Brookings Institution, October 2009)
“Why ‘Comprehensive Immigration Reform’ Is Not Comprehensive,”The Forum(July 2009; Vol. 7, Issue 3).
“.”The American Interest (Spring 2009).
“The Real Immigration Crisis,” in Robert Faulkner and Susan Shell, eds., America at Risk: Threats to Liberal Self-Government in an Age of Uncertainty (University of Michigan Press, 2009)
2008
“Day Laborers and Dock Workers: Casual Labor Markets and Immigration Policy.”Society (January/ Frebruary 2008).
“,” (review ofThe New Case Against Immigration, by Mark Krikorian)The Weekly Standard, (September 15, 2008)
2007
“Good Neighbors and Good Citizens: Beyond the Legal-Illegal Immigration Debate,” (with Noah Pickus) in Carol Swain, ed., Debating Immigration (Cambridge University Press, 2007)
“.”The American Interest, (May/June, 2007)
2006
“Immigration and Social Disorder.” in Norton Garfinkle and Daniel Yankelovich, ed., Uniting America: Restoring the Vital Center to American Democracy (Yale University Press, 2006)
“.”Time.com, November 11.
“.”Time, (August 21, 2006)
“How Not to Build a Fence.”Foreign Policy (September/October 2006)
“Mother of Invention.”Wilson Quarterly (Summer 2006)
“Line in the Sand: A Return to Fundamentals on Immigration” (with James Q. Wilson), Wall Street Journal (May 18, 2006)
“,” with Devin Fernandes.The New Republic, (May 8, 2006)
“Immigration Realities,” Boston Globe (October 15, 2006)
“Give Illegal Immigrants Licenses – and Obligations,” Los Angeles Times (August 20, 2006)
“Process Must Foster Better Bonds” (with Noah Pickus), South Florida Sun-Sentinel (May 19, 2006)
2005
“America’s Other Muslims.”Wilson Quarterly(Autumn 2005)
“Choice, Conflict, and the Zero-Sum Game of Identity Politics.”Yale Law and Policy Review (Winter 2005; Vol. 23, No.1)
“Political institutions and minority mobility in the USA.” in Glenn C. Loury, Tariq Modood, and Steven M. Teles, eds., Ethnicity, Social Mobility, and Public Policy in the United States and the United Kingdom (Cambridge University Press, 2005)
“Racial Politics in the Administrative State.”Society(January/ February 2005)
What Are We To Make of Samuel Huntington?"Society(November- December 2005)
“Gelobtes Land für Muslime,” Der Tagesspiegel (January 5, 2005)
2004
“‘This Was Our Riot Too’: The Political Assimilation of Today’s Immigrants.” InReinventing the Melting Pot:The New Immigrants and What It Means to Be American, edited by Tamar Jacoby, 221-34. New York: Basic Books.
“," with Devin Fernandes.Boston Globe, November 26.
“.”NewRepublic.com, January 13.
2003
“.”The Responsive Community14, no.1: 25-37.
“Political Islam in the United States and Europe.” InPolitical Islam:Challenges for U.S. Policy, edited by Dick Clark. Aspen Institute: Second Conference, June 27-July 3.
2002
“Comments on ‘Coverage of the Population in Census 2000: Results from Demographic Analysis’ and ‘Demographic Comparison between Self-Response and Personal Visit Interview in Census 2000.’”Population Research and Policy Review21, nos. 1-2 (Special Issue: Census 2000): 53-4.
.” InThe New Race Question: How the Census Counts Multiracial Individuals, edited by Joel Perlmann and Mary C. Waters, 327-39. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
“?"Brookings Review, Winter.
2001
“Counting on the Census?” Society 39, no. 1: 3-10.
“The New Politics of the Census.” In Durability and Change: Politics and Policymaking in the 1990s, edited by Marc Landy, Martin Levin and Martin Shapiro, 292-310. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press.
“What’s Wrong With Group Politics?” Nexus 6: 189-96.
2000
Counting on the Census? Race, Group Identity, and the Evasion of Politics. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press.
“Elites Immigrées Américaines et Politiques Raciales.” InLes Etats-Unis et les Elites Latino-Américaines, edited by Isabelle Vagnoux, 212ff. Aix-en-Provence: Publications de l’Université de Provence.
“Mexican Immigration is Different.”American Enterprise, December.
“.”Philanthropy, September/October.
1999
“The Racialization of Immigration Policy.” InTaking Stock:American Government in the Twentieth Century, edited by Morton Keller and R. Shep Melnick, 81-122. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
1998
“Do We Really Want Immigrants to Assimilate?” InWhat, Then, Is the American, This New Man?Compiled by E. Sandman. Washington, D.C.: Center for Immigration Studies.
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