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The Immigration Of The United States Essay

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America has always been a melting pot of people from all over the world. One only has to look at the diversity of America’s population to see that it is truly a nation of immigrants and descendants of immigrants. Even the Native Americans who were here before the first European settlers were the descendants of the first indigenous people who crossed the ice bridge connecting Asia to North America some 12,000 years ago were immigrants (1). Their ancestors were the first in a long line, who for whatever reason came to the Americas to live a better life. The first law designed to regulate immigration to the United States was The Naturalization Law of 1790, which was signed into law shortly after George Washington became president. It proclaimed that, “Naturalization was limited to immigrants who were free white persons of good moral character who had lived in the United States for two years”. This meant that Native Americans, free African Americans, indentured servants and slaves were all out of luck as far as citizenship was concerned (1). Laws regarding becoming an American citizen have evolved since The Naturalization Law of 1790 and the enforcement of these laws have waxed and waned along with the sentiment of the American people. When speaking of the sentiment of the American people in regard to immigration, it is interesting to note that in general, people have been; at the very least suspicious of most immigrant groups and at most downright hostile

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