This is the first book-length inquiry into Newfoundland immigration prior to Confederation in 1949. Sanctuary Denied sheds new light on the preservation of Newfoundland's culturally "distinct" homogeneous society and its endemic difficulties.

Refuting a widespread assumption that pre-Confederation Newfoundland was unable to attract immigrants, Dr. Bassler identifies numerous requests involving thousands of potential immigrants eager to move to Newfoundland in the half century prior to Confederation. Despite the existence of a uniquely liberal refugee law from 1906 to 1949, Newfoundland immigration policy developed a tradition of refusing asylum to all refugees and of deporting and excluding non-British immigrants as undesirable. The analysis of this immigration record raises intriguing questions about the legacy of nation-building in Newfoundland.