Sorry for butting in, but this is a very intersting debate, indeed.
However, I have never heard of an Immigration Act of 1964 - or could this have been the abrogation of the “bracero program”, which indeed happened in 1964?
Sorry about this question; absolutely no slight intended, but I’m afraid I might have understood you incorrectly.
Blame it on my slow-wittedness and lack of erudition...
:-(
Concerning the matter of the book “A Nation of Immigrants”, my guess (and it’s only a guess, mind you) would be that parts of that book (perhaps its core premises) were indeed penned by JF Kennedy personally, while other passages might have been ghostwritten by one or more unknown authors.
Just as it had been the case with the published version of his work “Why England slept” from the year 1940.
I was off by a year, it was actually the “Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965” aka the Hart–Celler Act.
It dramatically altered immigration flows and is the reason that the demographics of this country have changed radically since the time when Boomers were teenagers.
Before Hart-Cellar America was essentially 90% white European and 10% black. Every other racial group was too small to make any impact.
The Bracero program did come to an end in 1964 but that was unrelated to the Immigration Act of 1965.
Ted Sorenson was Kennedy’s speechwriter and the ghostwriter of JFK’s more famous book “Profiles in Courage”. Sorenson may well have written the immigration book, too. In cases like that the official “author” usually tells the ghostwriter what he wants to say, guides the writing and has to approve it. Writing is time intensive and requires skill that amateurs often lack. Winston Churchill wrote his own books but not many others of his station try it.