The United States is often referred to as the “Great Melting Pot,” a metaphor that connotes the blending of many cultures, languages and religions to form a single national identity. But this metaphor fails to capture the slow, complex and frequently turbulent process by which immigrants of diverse backgrounds and beliefs join U.S. society, even as they transform it.

About This Issue

A Permanently Unfinished Country

Immigration as a Two-Way Street: Beyond the Melting Pot

Revitalizing a Midwestern City: Immigrants in Marshalltown

Beaverton: Oregon’s Most Diverse City

Leading New Lives in Louisville, Kentucky

(This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/iipdigital-en/index.html)