This paper examines the immigration debate within the labor movement in the early 1900s through the lens of two predominantlyfemale unions. Using the unions’ publications, minutes of their meetings, contemporary news sources, and congressional
testimony, I offer a portrait of two unions acting largely alone in their courageous and controversial opposition to the broader labor
movement’s xenophobia and restrictionism. The women’s unions’ framing of the issue — as a humanitarian necessity and an
economic benefit to American workers — stands in sharp contrast to the American Federation of Labor's attempts to manufacture a
divide between its members and vulnerable immigrants. In an era of federal repression of labor activists and an ethos of unrelenting
assimilationism, the women’s unions also grappled with how to best represent their largely low-income, immigrant membership
while maintaining financial viability. Finally, I discuss the divisions within each of the two unions on immigration politics, as well
as the female labor movement's blind spot on the issue of non-white immigration.