Institute for Social Science Research

By focussing on a discussion of the New Zealand Immigration Act of 1987,this paper intends to suggest that despite obvious disparities in size and location, New Zealand and the United States of America have much in common in terms of immigrant experience. Differences in the respective political, economic, social and cultural heritages may explain variations on the theme, but the theme,is common to both nations; the creation of one people -e pluribus unum,or,katahi tatou.