This dissertation examines the ideal of immigration hospitality as it is manifested in the regulatory and media environments. Focusing on three representative periods of American immigration history--the 1880s and the Chinese Exclusion Act; the 1920s and the National Origins Quotas; and the post-9/11 treatment of Muslim immigrants in the United States—this dissertation considers the myth of the United States as a welcoming “nation of immigrants” in light of immigration restriction and anti-immigrant sentiment. In so doing, the dissertation acknowledges that the myth of the nation of immigrants is unevenly realized, though it might play a role in motivating the public to mobilize against exclusionary policies and rhetoric, potentially inspiring more inclusive hospitality in the future.