During the Trump election campaign I saw a political cartoon and the gist was a drawing of DT and a Native American standing face to face and the caption coming from DT was "It's time to reclaim America from all illegal immigrants." and the caption from the native american was "I'll help you pack."
There has been a lot of talk about how the United States used to have much more relaxed standards on immigration and had a more open door policy on citizenship... there really could be nothing further from the truth... When my family came to this country after WW1 congress had passed restrictions on how many immigrants could be admitted from each country (These quotas were the foundation of the Immigration Act of 1924) and there was legislation that literacy was a requirement. The simple matter of the fat then and now is that immigration is easier if you have money; you should be to able to invest in an american business, and deposit a significant amount of money in US Banks and and purchase a home.
I'm writing this in two colors to reflect (red) the experiences of my family found from old letters, journals and legal and bank documents and conversations; or my opinion. And (Blue) to represent information I have found from research.
With the opening celebration of the Statue of Liberty in 1886 the population of the United States was less than sixty million people (roughly the current population of New York, Los Angeles and Chicago) even then there were large unsettled areas of the country and the cities were growing due to the Industrial Revolution ... that year 334, 000 immigrants entered the Untied States. Many viewed those coming with apprehension but saw the need for farmers and factory workers. Since records first started being kept in 1820 more than 74 million immigrants have come to the United States; about one third of that total immigrated between 1881 and 1920.
There was a lull of about 50 years until the late 70's when about 9.5 million people came to the US from other countries, Since the year 2000 about one million immigrants (legal and undocumented) have come to the US each year.
In the late 1800's is about the time US immigration policy began when some argued that the United Stated did not have enough room for more people and others argued that the US could not afford to close the door to labor and skills needed to help the country grow. It was about this time the US felt it had a humanitarian obligation to keep the US open to refugees fleeing their countries because of religious or political conflict.
Since 11, September 2001 national security and how it relates to immigration has become a prominent issue and debate over policy.
Since the Declaration of Independence was written by those from Britain and northwest Europe immigration was welcomed but limited due to the Act of 1790 to white people of "good moral character." The Constitution has little written about immigration or citzenship and left that to Congress. Before 1820 the US did not even keep track of anyone new entering the country. With the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868 was when US citizenship was granted to anyone born in the United States except Native Americans who were not admitted to full citizenship until 1924 (I wrote a blistering term paper in the 7th grade about this and the deplorable manner of the US government's treatment of them up until 1963 when the paper was written)
In the 19th Century the United States was growing and there was still no official policy for immigration... Between 1820 and 1880 about 70% of the immigrants were from Great Britain, Germany and Ireland. The Irish were the first Catholics to arrive in large numbers to a country that was largely Protestant. They worked largely as servants, factory workers and in the growing mining industry. US citizens were worried about these new arrivals and there was social and political anxiety on how these new masses of people could corrupt and distract the country (Sound familiar?) The first opposition that was organized was in the 1840's with the creation of the American Party who would terrorize and use violence against new people and faded with the Civil War but anti-immigrant feelings remained strong among some groups of people and organizations. (Guess where?)
From about 1881 until 1920 the majority of immigrants came from eastern and southern europe and brought new cultures, traditions and customs and typically formed a close knited communities in large urban areas. In response to these new languages Congress sought to make literacy a requirement for entry.
Between 1861 and 1880 about 200,000 Chinese arrived and recruited to help and build the transcontinental railroad. Soon they found other work because of their willingness to work for lower wages and were about 30% of the labor force in California. At the time there were strict laws against Asian immigrants from marrying whites or testifying against them in court. Many riots and bloodshed ensued because of the anti-Chinese sentiment. In 1882 congress enacted the the Chinese Exclusion Act that limited and ultimately excluded more Chinese from immigrating that lead to other efforts later for immigration restriction.
During the same period Japanese people began to immigrate to the United States because for the first time in 300 years the Japanese government allowed emigration. Like the Chinese they were known for their hard work for low wages and they too were soon victims of prejudice and were referred to as 'the yellow peril." The city of San Francisco created segregated schools keeping asian and white children separate. The government of Japan protested to then president Theodore Roosevelt who persuaded Japan to limit emigration again... and discrimination against asian immigrants continued.
In the 20th century the anti-immigration sentiment gained support from emerging labor union organizers who feared their work to raise wages and improve working conditions would be hampered by the availability of inexpensive immigrant labor... Even then it seems uneducated immigrant voters could be persuaded to support corrupt politicians.
The National Origins Act of 1924 was preceded by Congress overriding President Wilson's veto making literacy an entrance requirement. In 1924 they sought to restrict each nationality to 2% of the total US population... it was during this period that immigration fell to he lowest levels... these acts governed US immigration policy until 1952.
After the depression and WWII the United States emerged as the most powerful nation in the world and were taking steps to thwart the threat of the Soviet Union... with the Cold War and the struggle for political and military domination and thus effected almost all government policy in the US including immigration regulation. However The Displaced Persons Act of 1948 allowed the admission of over 400,000 refugees left homeless by WWII and was followed by special bills for refugees and escapees of communist countries... over 700,000 came from Cuba. The Act in 1952 slightly relaxed restrictions for asians; but basically the system remained the same from 1924 until the civil rights movement in the 50's and 60's.
The immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 was enacted during the period of extreme economic growth and replaced the old rules with a new set of requirement. The Act put priority on reuniting families and attracting highly skilled professionals. In the late 50's almost 70% of of immigrants were coming to the US from Europe and Canada. The new law cleared the way for greater immigration from Asia for doctors, nurses, engineers and scientists and other university trained specialists. During this period US citizens could sponsor parents, children and siblings. (one little discussed detail of this was the sponsor had to guarantee in writing to the US that they would be responsible financially for those they sponsored for the rest of their life)
In the 1970's immigration faced more challenges as immigrants began to enter the US in the largest numbers in 50 years. Officially legal controls were tighter then they were in the 1900's. No more than 20,000 immigrants could enter the US per year. The law also limited the total number of immigrants to be admitted to 290,000 per year. (The immediate relatives of US citizens, spouses and children under 18 were excluded from the limit)
Despite these regulations more immigrants entered the country as either refugees, undocumented immigrants and backlogged the conventional channels of applications for immigration and citizenship. During this period there were hundreds of thousands of backlogged applicants. Mexicans made of 24% of those immigrants between 1971 and 1991 and faced over six years to have their applications reviewed and processed.
Recent immigration laws are
The Refugee Act of 1980 was prompted by the arrival of more than 400,000 refugees from Southeast Asia between 1975 until 1989... this legislation sought to create a consistency for refugee policies for both a regular flow and emergency admissions.
In 1986, the Immigration Reform Act tackled the issue of undocumented immigrants in the US. The act imposed penalties on employers who knowingly hired workers without proper documentation and it also allowed undocumented immigrants living in the United States since 1981 (including agricultural workers) to become citizens; under this amnesty program about 3.2 million people gained legal status.
In 1990, the Immigration Act raised the limit of annual admissions from 290,000 (set in 1965) to 675,000... this act was reserved for those with prize job skills and their families; like the 1965 act, the Immigration Act of 1990 made family reunification the guiding principle of immigration policy.
In 1996, the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act grew out of the economic troubles of the early 90's would have limited all immigration to 535,000 including refugees and alylum seekers and strengthened border control efforts... by the time the bill introduced became a law the economic outlook had improved and Congress narrowed the focus to curbing illegal immigration. The 1996 act streamlined deportation procedures and rejecting asylum claims. Critics claimed this put too much power in the hands of the government agencies and denies legitimate refugees a fair hearing.
In 2001, the DREAM Act (Development, Relief, Education, for Alien Minors) was first introduced in Congress that focused on minors who were brought to the US illegally as children and had no choice in the decision. It would allow them to get a high school diploma and attend college and would be eligible for financial tuition assistance and would be a path to obtain citizenship... although it did not pass it was reintroduced every few years. In 2010 the bill passed in the House of Representatives but failed in the senate. President Obama established the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Process by president's executive action; in 2017 Donald Trump overturned it with the same president's executive action.
In my opinion out of spite.
In 2005, the Real ID Act was born of post 9/11 concerns to strengthen national security by implementing stricter standards of obtaining state issues ID's. Compliance with the law has been spotty at best; as of 2013 only 19 states met the new federal standards for issuing ID's.
The economic recession that began in 2007 led to further scrutiny of immigrants, their use of social services and their role in the workforce. Anti-immigrant sentiments have increased do to all the domestic policy concerns since the 21 century. Every year members of Congress say they will deal with the issues of "immigration reform" but the complex issues make it difficult.
The choices we have are---
1. Open ourselves to the world
2. Make emigration unnecessary
3. Admit the talent we need
4. Restrict immigration
All these options come with pros and cons that range from The United States' strength lies in it's diversity to overloading schools, hospitals and social services and that skilled well educated immigrants are capable of helping to build the economy and the betterment of the country to drastically reducing immigration will create a society in the US that lacks understanding of the world outside of it's borders (which I think has already happened for many)... and the arguments pro and con for each go on and on...
I have never been in favor up building walls either physically or metaphorically to either restrict those who want to leave or keep people out because we are afraid of them... I understand why the great wall was built in China to ward off attacks from northern invaders... but I think that the world and the people have evolved tremendously since 221 BC to find alternate methods of bringing the world together by finding the common ground we all share instead of all the individual differences that range from the color of our skin to our political and religious beliefs. I wrote in a previous installment that the tearing down of the Berlin Wall was one of the highlights of the 80's for me as I saw it as a start to rebuilding a world more unified than divided.
BTW... only about 5% of the people leaving Mexico are doing so on foot. Most of the rest like everyone from every other country is doing so in US airports on commercial airlines. Hundreds of thousands of immigrants are coming to the US via smuggling rings many from China and South Asia.--- So a Wall is a complete waste of time and resources.
I think everyone should start to think about not making America great again with all the divisiveness of the Trump administration but making the world nice again but maybe I'm just hopelessly optimistic about the US government doing the right thing; historically from the time the State Department and FDR turned away a ship full of nearly 900 jewish refugees trying to flee Nazi Germany to FDR censoring photographs of the deplorable conditions in Japanese internment camps during WWII that continued with the lies and fear mongering spread by the House Committee on Un-American Activities in the 50's--- that are being reconstituted now by conservative Republicans; the US government never seems to be able to step up to the plate and do the right thing except protect and revere the small minded minority. I shudder to think what would happen with the path we are on now should life and civilization be found outside our solar system.
See you next week.
