Immigration Impact On American Identity

Immigration has been a part of our nations core for as long as it began. It is in fact one of the ways to become a citizen of the United States. But, a certain period in our nation’s history caused a lot of hardships for certain individuals from certain nations to have that opportunity. Both historians, Ira Berlin and Mae Ngai, refer to major changes in immigration policy when the Johnson-Reed act was replaced in 1965. Since the end of the Johnson Reed Act in 1965, new immigrants are now coming into this country from all over the globe, discovering their own ways on how to contribute to America’s identity, but also dealing with homeland American attitudes about their races.

Starting in 1924, the Johnson-Reed act put restrictions on immigration

With all of the newcomers migrating into the nation, each migration creates new meanings of American Identity. In Ira Berlin’s article, “The Changing Definition of African American,” gives a great story about post Johnson-Reed Act immigrants and their views on African American history. By surprise, Berlin discovered not one of them were descended from anyone who had been freed by the proclamation. “While they seemed impressed - but not surprised - that slaves had played a big part in breaking their own chains…they insisted it had nothing to do with them. Simply put, it was not their history” (Berlin Article). Certainly, the African American experience is closely related to the evolution of the American Identity. With that being said, Mae Ngai also believes in a similar relationship between migrants and the nation, “The interactions, conflicts, and negotiations between migrants, the state, and society that animate the history in this work, I argue, are integral to the historical processes that define and redefine the nation” (Ngai p. 78). From my personal knowledge and understanding of the definition of the American identity is different for every immigrant from any nation, but it all comes together as one. Each and every new experience created by an immigrant allows them to create a new narrative from their

A quote from Ngai, “Undocumented immigrants are at once welcome and unwelcome: they are woven into the economic fabric of the nation, but as labor that is cheap and disposable” (Ngai p. 72). Because of their race and where they are from, Mexican immigrants are usually valued for their work ethic as well as doing the work for cheap pay. The book, “The Circuit,” by Francisco Jimenez, is about a Mexican family crossing the border illegally and surviving off of manual labor and cheap pay (Circuit-End page). Just because this family is not “American,” they’re not going to be treated like the rest of American society and will always have a label because of their race. Not only are Mexican’s having this issue, new African migrants are getting heat from the native black Americans. In a completely and un-racist manner, most individuals are unable to distinguish who is and who isn’t a part of the African American experience. Berlin stated, “Some of the new arrivals have struggled over the very appellation ‘African American,’ either shunning it – declaring themselves, for instance, Jamaican-Americans or Nigerian-Americans…” (Berlin Article). With the new arrivals discovering the racial inequalities of American life for themselves they are quick to embrace a society of opportunities unknown from where they migrated from, redefining their own vision on this