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History Of Immigration

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Background on Immigration History Massachusetts has been a state of immigrants since the 1620 establishment of the Bay State colony by the Pilgrims (“U.S. Immigration Since 1965” n.d). The United States is created on the foundation of immigrants, but the US only began embracing immigrants after 1965. Prior to that, the first restrictive immigration law was enacted in 1790. In the later 1800’s, the United States immigration laws oppressed the Chinese, who were migrating to the United States as their country was facing starvation. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was implemented because the United States felt that the Chinese were taking over jobs that belonged to the natives. In the research findings by Ramanujan Nadadur (2009) rejected this theory by stating that when illegal workers occupy secondary-sector jobs for less cost, it allows skilled workers in the US to occupy primary-sector jobs where they have a comparative advantage. The result is greater economic productivity (p.1044). The Act of 1882 was the first immigration law that prohibited a specific ethnic group from immigration to the United States. Moreover, the Immigration Act of 1917 expanded the Chinese Exclusion Act to prohibit immigration to anyone from Asian ancestry …show more content…

According to the Migration Policy Center, President Johnson stated during the signing ceremony that "the bill that we sign today is not a revolutionary bill. It does not affect the lives of millions. It will not reshape the structure of our daily lives, or really add importantly to either our wealth or our power.” Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA), the bill’s floor manager, stated: "It will not upset the ethnic mix of our society." Even advocacy groups who had favored the national-origins quotas became supporters, predicting minor change to the profile of immigration streams (Milestones: 1921–1936 - Office of the Historian”

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