Immigration Reform
The foundation of the United States of America is based on the migration of people from other countries. The migration to the United States between 1820- 1914 accelerated the Industrial Revolution, and started to improve transportation at a faster rate (Goldfield, 2005). Since America is considered the melting pot of the world, immigration is an important topic that needs to be regulated constantly. Foreigners are encouraged to travel to America for a better life, and more job opportunities, but the process for even applying for a green card can be nearly impossible for many immigrants. Numerous immigrants are driving innovation, creating companies and jobs, and are also entrepreneurs. Well-educated and trained foreign workers are inventive and productive (Forbes.com, 2013). These immigrants do not always have the means and the ability to take these skills, and become a citizen with the current immigration laws. As the American population is constantly growing there are over 11 million illegal immigrants unspoken for. (whitehouse.gov). This means that there is $23 billion dollars worth of taxes not being paid each year (Washingtonpoast.com, 2012).
Immigration Reform in History
Immigration reform has evolved over time beginning with the Immigration Act of 1924. This act limited the amount of immigrants allowed entry into the United States by establishing a national origins quota (History.state.gov, Milestones). The quota only allowed two percent of people from each nationality to receive a visa. Asia was not included in the quota.
By 1952 the Immigration Act evolved into The Immigration and Nationality Act. The Immigration and Nationality Act is still in effect today, but has been modified through...
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Three Decades of Mass Immigration: The Legacy of the 1965 Immigration Act. (n.d.). Center for Immigration Studies. Retrieved May 4, 2014, from http://cis.org/1965ImmigrationAct-MassImmigration
Top 10 Pros and Cons - Illegal Immigration - ProCon.org. (2009, April 13). ProConorg Headlines. Retrieved May 3, 2014, from http://immigration.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000842
U.S. Immigration Since 1965. (n.d.). History.com. Retrieved May 3, 2014, from http://www.history.com/topics/us-immigration-since-1965
US Chamber. (n.d.). US Chamber. Retrieved May 5, 2014, from https://www.uschamber.com/sites/default/files/legacy/reports/Immigration_MythsFacts.pdf
Why Does the U.S. Need Immigration Reform?. (n.d.). Open Society Foundations (OSF). Retrieved May 3, 2014, from http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/explainers/why-does-us-need-immigration-reform
The United States’ government instilled a closed door policy with the creation of many immigration laws in an effort to make America a melting pot of similar ethnicities. However, the prejudice of American society that was enforced by immigration policy forced immigrants to form their own communities for the purpose of survival and protection, turning America into a mosaic of different cultures. The Burlingame Treaty of 1868 and Naturalization Act of 1870 both created a false image of acceptance for immigrants while simultaneously restricting immigration. The United States’ government only began clearly restricting immigration with the Page Act of 1875 and Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.
As America continued to recruit workers from other countries, they continually worried about an immigration problem. In 1924, the Federal government passed the Immigration Act which officially barred further immigration from Asia and Europe to the U.S.
...e private sector to find new growth opportunities and create new jobs. Furthermore, America always has been, and always will be a country of immigrants. Despite that rich tradition, Congress has not updated the country’s immigration policies in three decades. However, Congress now has an opportunity to fix the immigration system and improve the economic well-being of all Americans. Failure to address the issue will have severe consequences for America’s future and well-being, and that is why how America reforms the immigration system will determine its future. The current immigration system is outdated, broken, and reveals that Comprehensive Immigration Reform is urgently needed, and is good for America’s workers and the economy. Despite the claims, complaints and the resistance of many, Americans should welcome, accept and support Comprehensive Immigration Reform.
In response to the World War I for the following years from the flow of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe. Congress of United States passed a law to limit immigrations, which named Immigration Act of 1924 or the Johnson-Reed Act. The Immigration Act of 1924 was an Act use to limit the big number of immigration entry to the United States. The Immigration Act of 1924 only provided two percent immigration visas from 1980s national census. Asians were not allowed to immigrate to the United States.
When President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Immigration Act of 1965, also known as the Hart-Celler Act, he said, “[t]his bill that we sign today is not a revolutionary bill”, underestimating the change that would come about from the signing of this law. The Immigration Act was passed in the midst of much reform and civil rights activism in the United States and banned discrimination in the issuance of visas due to “‘race, sex, nationality, place of birth, or place of residence’”(Fitzgerald, Cook-Martin, 2015). It counteracted the immigration policy that had been in place since the 1920’s. This policy was the National Origins Act, which restricted the immigration of foreign-born people into the United States based on nationality. Most immigrants
Immigration in America in recent years has continued to rise steadily. Why? What do they want? Do these immigrants even contribute to society or are they just simply here to do diabolical deeds? Jie Zong and Jeanne Batalova assert “In 2013, approximately 41.3 million immigrants lived in the United States, an all-time high for a nation historically built on immigration” (par.1). Every year millions of immigrants migrate into the U.S looking for better job opportunities or searching for freedom that is limited to them elsewhere. Reporter Janelle Ross contends “America is a much more diverse country — in every region — than it was during the last century. That is largely due to the nearly record-topping share of the country 's population that
For over ten years, efforts to make changes to the United States immigration system have been put aside due to wars, attacks within our homeland and even worldwide financial crisis but it seems as though this being brought up more and more often. The history of the US immigration policy was more concerned with immigration enforcement over immigration reform. It was not until a few years ago that the US citizens voted they were tired of enforcement-only immigration policies and the pain they caused on immigrant families. So most feel now is the time to draw up new immigration laws that reflect American values and beliefs, and it ne...
More than five decades after the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, many immigrants in the United States still follow the foundations of this immigration law. Also known as the Hart-Cellar Act, it has introduced a new age of mass immigration and impacted the lives of millions of new Americans. The fundamentals of this act are family reunification and employment preferences, which are still maintained in any efforts to reform the 1965 legislation. This new law replaced the National Origins system that was implemented in 1924 as the first United States comprehensive set of immigration regulations. http://www.asian-nation.org/1965-immigration-act.shtml http://cis.org/1965ImmigrationAct-MassImmigration
Immigration is a major part of what defines America. Today, more than 42.4 million Americans are immigrants. These immigrants were allowed to come to America because of a certain established immigration policy, particularly the Immigration Act of 1965. The Immigration Act of 1965 continues to dominate US immigration policy even today. This Act was created at the same time of the Civil Rights Movement where minorities fought for their voice and sparked much controversy. While some people reacted negatively at the passing of the Act, many people thought of the 1965 Immigration Act as a part of the Civil Rights Movement since it abolished the Quota System.
America is sometimes referred to as a "nation of immigrants" because of our largely open-door policy toward accepting foreigners pursuing their vision of the American Dream. Recently, there has been a clamor by some politicians and citizens toward creating a predominantly closed-door policy on immigration, arguing that immigrants "threaten" American life by creating unemployment by taking jobs from American workers, using much-needed social services, and encroaching on the "American way of life." While these arguments may seem valid to many, they are almost overwhelmingly false, and more than likely confused with the subject of illegal immigration. In fact, immigrants actually enhance American life by creating, not taking jobs, bolster social service funds through tax payments, and bring valuable technical knowledge and skills to our country. If we are to continue to excel as a nation, the traditionalists who fear an encroachment of foreign-born Americans must learn to accept that we achieved our greatness as a result of being "a nation of immigrants."
Kalapodas 8 Dec. 1999 History 101 Dr. Tassinari Immigration: The New American Paul Kalapodas 8 Dec. 1999 Immigration For many, immigration to the United States during the late 19th to early 20th century would be a new beginning to a prosperous life. However there were many acts and laws past to limit the influx of immigrants, do to prejudice, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act. Later on into the 20th century there would be laws repealing the older immigration laws and acts making it possible for many more foreigners to immigrate to the United States. Even with the new acts and laws that banned the older ones, no one can just walk right in and become a citizen. One must go through several examinations and tests before he or she can earn their citizenship. The Immigration Act of March 3, 1891 was the first comprehensive law for national control of immigration. It established the Bureau of Immigration under the Treasury Department to administer all immigration laws (except the Chinese Exclusion Act). This Immigration Act also added to the inadmissible classes. The people in these classes were inadmissible to enter into the United States. The people in these classes were, those suffering from a contagious disease, and persons convicted of certain crimes. The Immigration Act of March 3, 1903 and The Immigration Act of February 20, 1907 added further categories to the inadmissible list. Immigrants were screened for their political beliefs. Immigrants who were believed to be anarchists or those who advocated the overthrow of government by force or the assassination of a public officer were deported. This act was made mainly do to the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901. On February 5, 1917 another immigration act was made. This Act codified all previous exclusion provisions and added the exclusion of illiterate aliens form entering into the United States. It also created a "barred zone"(Asia-Pacific triangle), whose natives were also inadmissible. This Act made Mexicans inadmissible. It insisted that all aliens pay a head tax of $8 dollars. However, because of the high demand for labor in the southwest, months later congress let Mexican workers (braceros) to stay in the U.S. under supervision of state government for six month periods. A series of statutes were made in 1917,1918, and 1920. The sought to define more clearly which al...
...ch made it so intelligent immigrants were allowed into the country. In 1921, the Emergency Immigration Act was passed. This act made it so the number of aliens of any nationality admitted to the U.S. in a year could not exceed 3 percent of the number of foreign-born residents of that nationality living in the U.S. in 1910. Even though this heavily cut down the number of immigrants entering the country, the majority of the immigrants were "new immigrants." This led to the National Origins Act in 1924. This act was harsher than the act of 1921 because it decreased the percentage of immigrants from 3% to 2%, and pushed the year from 1910 to 1890, thus making the majority of immigrants "old immigrants."
1. "United States Immigration Before 1965 — History.com Articles, Video, Pictures and Facts." History.com — History Made Every Day — American & World History. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Feb. 2012. .
The United States of America, being a country founded by immigrants, is known all over the world as the land of great opportunities. People from all walks of life travelled across the globe, taking a chance to find a better life for them and their family. Over the years, the population of immigrants has grown immensely, resulting in the currently controversial issue of illegal immigration. Illegal immigrants are the people who have overstayed the time granted on their US, visa or those who have broken the federal law by crossing the border illegally. Matt O’Brien stated in his article “The government thinks that 10.8 million illegal immigrants lived in the country in January 2009, down from a peak of nearly 12 million in 2007.”(Para, 2) While some argue that illegal immigrants burden the United States of America and its economy, others believe that they have become essential and are an important part of the US, economy.
This article from a well-known newspaper discusses something called the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. He explains how it created a new approach to reuniting immigrant families and brought skilled workers to the U.S. which dramatically transformed the makeup of the country. “the Immigration Act” was like a time-release capsule he said. “year by year, it reshaped America into the America we know today” (n.p.). This article also explains why immigrants break the law to move to the U.S. I believe this article is an important aspect in my research because he discusses important facts about immigration.