Immigrant Agency

"Immigrant Agency provides new insights about the Hmong American experience and puts race at the center of its analysis to understand the complex ways in which the state constrains political incorporation and how refugees themselves have engaged in political action to shape public policy. Xiong's well-crafted and informative book changes the way in which we understand refugee populations and their political incorporation in the U.S."

~Dina Okamoto, author of Redefining Race: Asian American Panethnicity and Shifting Ethnic Boundaries

"In Immigrant Agency, Xiong offers a thoughtful and rigorous analysis of immigrant collective action and political incorporation through the case of Hmong Americans. He sheds light on how a vulnerable group of refugees from Laos, in response to political threats or opportunities, strategically interacts with the state and other minority groups to effectively influence public policies. This is an important contribution to the fields of migration studies, ethnic politics and Asian American studies."

~Min Zhou, Distinguished Professor of Sociology & Asian American Studies, UCLA