Political Dimensions of US Immigration Policies
Japanese and Chinese Immigration and Exclusionary Immigration Policies
Anti-immigrant driven exclusive immigration policies barred Japanese and Chinese immigrants from immigrating to the United States and accessing the privileges of citizenship. Through the Immigration Acts of 1917, 1921, and 1924, the US government insured that Japanese and Chinese immigrants could not immigrate to the United States by creating an artificial geographic area or “Asiatic Barred Zone” that denied entry to any immigrants who migrated from this area—most likely Chinese or Japanese (Lee 2003, 39). The Immigration Acts intentionally deprived Japanese and Chinese immigrants the privileges of US citizenship based on
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Despite their initial economic adversity, German and Italian immigrants accessed more privileges because of their increasingly perceived whiteness among native-Born Americans. As I have mentioned, the ideas of American immigration therefore refer to immigrants who conform to the “Crevecoeurian Myth.”
Reconciling the Paradox of US Immigration
Despite the radicalized economic, social, and political dimensions of US immigration, policymakers like President Obama continue to sustain a singular view of US immigration that I have argued is oriented around a white and European immigration experience. By revealing how Chinese, Japanese, Italian and German immigrants have faced economic, social, and political adversities, I have disproved President Obama’s claim that the United States has been “a beacon to the world” to these immigrant groups. President Obama’s claim is particularly problematic because it highlights how the paradox of immigration has diminished the severity and scope of United States’ exclusive immigration policies. As policymakers begin to address the current issues of the American immigration system, I argue that this objective is difficult to achieve.
The Paradox of US Immigration and Its Impact on Future US Immigration Policies
Demilitarization: The US-Mexico Border
As policymakers reform the US immigration system, I advise that they consider demilitarizing the
America has the largest illegal-immigrant population in the world. As a country we are not doing much to stop it. According to the Pew Research Center, there were approximately 5.7 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. in 1995. As of 2014, there are around 11.3 million living in America. Immigration is vital to this country. Unless you are 100% full blooded native, somewhere down your family’s history you immigrated to this county. It is evident that something needs to be done to fix our immigration system, but what? Strengthening our borders, and deporting illegal immigrants are not long term solutions to the United States’ problem. By passing legislation and making simple changes to our immigration and naturalization policy,
Globally, the United States has been known as "a nation of immigrants" almost from its inception. Beginning in the 1600s with English Puritans and continuing today, America is a melting pot of culture and ethnicity. In fact, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, immigration was the major source of U.S. population growth. Looking over our 200+ years we find that to clearly be true, with approximately 1 million immigrants coming to America during the 17th and 18th century. Almost 3 million arrived during the 1860s, and another 3 million in the 1870s. In the next four decades, the number of immigrants rose to over 25 million people, most from various European nations, most arriving in New York or one of the Eastern seaports (Damon, 1981). Despite the politicization, as of 2006, the United States actually was the number one country globally to accept legal immigrants into the country, with a current immigrant population of almost 40 million (Terrazas and Batalova, 2009). In fact, the peak of immigration was 1907, when over 1.2 million Europeans entered the country beginning a push towards legislation limiting immigration in the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1924 and the 1921 Congressional Quota Act. These immigrants came for two sociological reasons: the push factor (wars, famine, persecution and overpopulation) and the pull factors (jobs and the promise of freedom). Most came by ship, and a passage often cost the equivalent of an entire life's savings causing many
Immigrating is to come to a country of which one is not a native, usually for permanent residence. It goes along with drive and determination to seek pleasure out of life, chase dreams, and purse happiness even in the most desperate of times. Migrating affects the communities that the migrants leave as well as the communities that receive them. There are many views as to why people migrate to different countries, the impact of immigration in countries, and how countries should go about regulating immigration. When discussing the ethics of immigration, it is important to view this topic from both sides and not just one side. In doing so, a person gets a sense of the bigger picture that the U.S. is currently dealing with due to immigration. With that being said, the United States should strive for an immigration policy that can benefit everyone involved as a whole.
This paper explores the United States, Immigration Policy from an historical, fair and factual perspective. The Immigration Act of 1990 States limited “unskilled workers to 10,000 a year. Skilled labor requirements and immediate family reunification were major goals. The Act continued to promote the nuclear family model, foreign-born in the US was 7%”. This paper will also explore the demographics and diversity, of immigrants, throughout the U.S. This paper includes an article form the website of the Washington, D.C., Immigration Policy Center, and American Immigration Council. This paper will examines significant research data from the Pew Research web site on Hispanic trends and immigration, around the United States. This paper will also cover numbers, facts and trends which shape the immigration policy. This paper will also include five different books written by authors concerning the immigration policy and public issues which most concern Americans. This paper will cover topics of history of social problems and the policies that address immigration, special interest groups advocacy groups, political party and supporters, social justice and ethical issues, policy outcomes of illegal immigrants and how other countries compare to the United States when dealing with immigration.
Millions of immigrants over the previous centuries have shaped the United States of America into what it is today. America is known as a “melting pot”, a multicultural country that welcomes and is home to an array of every ethnic and cultural background imaginable. We are a place of opportunity, offering homes and jobs and new economic gains to anyone who should want it. However, America was not always such a “come one, come all” kind of country. The large numbers of immigrants that came during the nineteenth century angered many of the American natives and lead to them to blame the lack of jobs and low wages on the immigrants, especially the Asian communities. This resentment lead to the discrimination and legal exclusion of immigrants,
One of the first significant pieces of federal legislation aimed at restricting immigration was the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which banned Chinese laborers from coming to America. Californians had agitated for the new law, blaming the Chinese, who were willing to work for less, for a decline in wages.The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was the first significant law restricting immigration into the United States. Those on the West Coast were especially prone to attribute declining wages and economic ills on the despised Chinese workers. Although the Chinese composed only .002 percent of the nation’s population, Congress passed the exclusion act to placate worker demands and assuage prevalent concerns about maintaining white “racial purity.”
In the United States, the cliché of a nation of immigrants is often invoked. Indeed, very few Americans can trace their ancestry to what is now the United States, and the origins of its immigrants have changed many times in American history. Despite the identity of an immigrant nation, changes in the origins of immigrants have often been met with resistance. What began with white, western European settlers fleeing religious persecution morphed into a multicultural nation as immigrants from countries across the globe came to the U.S. in increasing numbers. Like the colonial immigrants before them, these new immigrants sailed to the Americas to gain freedom, flee poverty and
Immigrants were pulled to America from Europe and Asia in hopes of prosperity leaving behind religious and political prosecution that had pushed them out of the country. In the 1880s, old immigrants from Northern and Western Europe easily assimilated to American customs and were welcomed into the melting pot of America. In 1907, new Immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe faced much more difficult challenges. They did not speak the English language, resisted Americanization and had to pass through immigrations stations; Ellis Island and Angle Island. New immigrants did not assimilate and often lived in urban locations called ghettos where their ethnic group dominated. They were part of a salad bowl America rather than melting pot. American people became threatened by immigrants and feared they would take their jobs away. Many Americans believed in the policy of nativism and that government should protect the interest of the native population over the interests of immigrants. The Asian immigrants suffered extreme prejudices. The Chinese Exclusion Act was passed in 1882 prohibiting Chinese laborers from entering the country unless they could prove residency. The Gentlemen’s Agreement Act promise to end its Japanese segregation policy as long as Japan stopped issuing passports to their laborers to come to America. Big Business also took advantage of the growing
In “The Right Road to America?,” Amy Chua informs her audience about the possibility of America’s national identity becoming lost due to the influence of immigrants. Chua’s defines her thesis by stating “Around the world, nations face violence and instability as a result of their increasing pluralism and diversity,” (336). The key points of the text includes Chua explaining why America and other nations could lose their core identities, how the United States could become unglued from its true meaning, and how citizens can fix this imminent problem. The information in this text is significant, especially in today’s society. With all of the issues about immigration coinciding with our current president, this text relates to current subjects
U.S. as an immigration country, has a long history of immigration. It is a complex demographic phenomenon that has been a major source of population growth and cultural change of the United States. People came here because of varies reason, the major reason among them are fleeing crop failure, land and job shortage, rising taxes, and famine. Nearly 12 million people immigrate to the United States between 1870 and 1900, making it the world largest immigrate country.
The government targeted the Asian Americans as a threat. As Takaki asserted, “Unlike European immigrants, Asians were also victimized by the institutionalized racial discrimination of public policies.” These policies include the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the National Origins Act of 1924. The social image of America can clearly be seen as only “whites” when the government institute policies to encourage European women to arrive to America so the immigrants can form families, while Asian women were barred the entry to prevent families to form
Throughout history, immigration has remained a complex and influential piece of presidential policy—from the Age of Mass Migration, which led to the Immigration Act of 1924, to present day policy, which may result in the construction of a border wall. The debate on immigration remains contentious, inspiring emotional and empirical arguments by politicians and the public alike. Many of these aspects are discussed and defined within Abramitzky, Boustan, and Eriksson’s paper “A Nation of Immigrants: Assimilation and Economic Outcomes in the Age of Mass Migration” and Peri’s paper “Immigrants, Productivity, and Labor Markets,” which analyze American immigration, both past and present. From these papers, it is evident that adopting a nativist
Immigration policy and foreign policy are in many ways interlinked, as they are often used to meet goals in one another’s policy areas. Together, they are used to enhance the safety of our citizens, making this topic particularly important. Immigration is specifically linked to our foreign policy efforts with underdeveloped countries (Keely 1978). To fully understand one policy area, you must understand aspects of the other. Thus, one should consider these relationships when analyzing and evaluating Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump’s policies on immigration reform.
Every year, around one million people are immigrating into the United States both legally and illegally. As of now nearly 40 million immigrants live in the United States; 11.5 million of which came to the country illegally (CNN). That is nearly thirteen percent of the total United States population. The role the United States government plays in the handling of immigration from foreign countries both legal and illegal, plays a vital role in the security of the people of the United States and
Politics influences our decision both direct and indirectly, it also can force us to make decisions faster in order to take advantage of current situations. One of the most powerful and influential country (United States of America) in the world has just nominated a new president Donald Trump. Within the first few days after Donald Trump was sworn in he signed a few controversial executive orders, one of them happen to deal with immigration. Immigration executive order was instated to ban citizens from seven Muslim countries Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen from entering the USA for 90 days (Berke, 2017). This was put in place to evaluate USA option and enhance their security however it was strategically targeted towards