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. The Burlingame Treaty of 1868 encouraged Chinese immigration for work on railroads and southern plantations while simultaneously withholding the privilege of naturalization. This encouraged the emergence of ‘coolie’ laborers, whose passage into the United States was paid for under the agreement that they would work as indentured servants for a pre-determined period of time. Although the Chinese helped build the transcontinental railroad, their unusual style of dress still created prejudice against their ethnicity. This lead to the creation of Chinatowns as a necessary cultural barrier used for protection against the rest of society. After encouraging Chinese immigration, the government realized that these immigrants would procreate and needed to decide what immigration status children born in America would hold. The Naturalization Act of 1870 was the solution to this question, declaring any child born in the United States a citizen of the country, regardless of the race of the child. This necessarily lead to more immigration restrictions since a... ... middle of paper ... ...d not assimilate to accepted American culture. However, by the time society learned which ethnicities were ‘unassimilable’, the cultures had already begun to take root in America. At first America had a knee-jerk reaction to this realization and began passing more resolutions preventing ‘non-whites’ from entering the United States. However, as America experienced the increase in cultural communities in reaction to prejudice formed by immigration laws, the government learned that only through a loosening of immigration law and lessening of prejudice would America become a true melting pot. The mid-1900s saw this manifestation in America, as immigration laws allowed more people from around the world to immigrate. As prejudice lessened, the cultural communities sprinkled throughout America that created a mosaic became less prevalent and have begun to form a melting pot.
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.
-The 1921 Immigration Act was the first to include any quantitative restrictions on immigration. The Asian “barred zone” was upheld, but all other immigration was limited to three percent of the foreign-born population of any given group in the United States at the time of the 1910 census.
The Untied States of America is commonly labeled or thought of as the melting pot of the world where diverse groups of people flock to in order to better their current lives. In our countries history this has proven to primarily be our way of living and how the people as a nation view immigration. However, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries this open door mentality was quite the opposite to what the majority of people felt towards the idea of welcoming these huddled masses. Immigrants were not seen as equals or people willing to work hard for a better life but rather a diseased parasite that would suck the prosperous and prestigious life that the old immigrants had become accustomed to. American nativist groups during this time period acted in a hypercritical manner with the impression that open immigration would, in the end cause our country to be overtaken and overrun by a far less superior race.
Obama Administration proposed what is called Comprehensive Immigration Reform. It is composed of six sections aimed at fixing the current immigration system. It includes enhanced border enforcement, interior enforcement and the most controversial section; an amnesty program to legalize undocumented immigrants. In other words, it creates a pathway to citizenship for unauthorized immigrants that is fair and feasible. Many argue that even though Comprehensive Immigration Reform is good for America because it addresses important issues like creating a committee to adopt the number of visas available to changing economic times, preventing people from working without permits and creating programs aimed at helping immigrants adjust to life in America. Yet it rewards violators of current U.S. laws who entered the country illegally, and those who entered the country legally but overstayed their visas. Opponents of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform proposal claim that immigrants have a negative impact on the economy; overwhelming social services of many states, and posing a threat to American workers as a result of big corporations exploiting immigrants with low wages and poor working conditions. With the recent economic downturn and the severe recession that hit the U.S, many individuals blame immigrants for their economic misfortune and lack of employment. For both the opponents and proponents of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Proposal, for the millions of the undocumented immigrants and their families, and lawmakers; immigration has become an emotional political issue. Despite the resistance of many, America should embrace comprehensive immigration reform.
The Unites States now, is a place of opportunity, that is assimilated and made up of different races, cultures, religions, etc. in which we once used to call “immigrants”. Within the 1800s and early 1900s, the place we all know and love, “America” was also then referred to as the Melting Pot. The term “Melting Pot” basically referred to the idea that all different kinds of people from a widespread of places came together to create one, and overtime, that’s exactly what happened to our country. In spite of the fact that some people, such as Bourne and Zangwill felt as if this was a substantial event that occurred within this time period, others, like Schultz disagreed and in fact, thought this was a careless idea that would soon corrupt the U.S. and all it had become.
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
Beginning in 1882 with the Chinese Exclusion Act, the United States stopped being a nation of immigrants and instead became a new type of nation, a gate-keeping nation. For the first time in its history, the United States did not welcome immigrants with open arms. As a result, the United States began to exert federal control over immigrants, which would change the ways Americans viewed and thought about race, immigration, and the nations’ identity as a whole.
For centuries, migrating has been a life changing decision for people that choose to enter the United States in search of a better future. Therefore, immigration is the permanent residency of people that choose to move to a new country. There are debates concerning the immigrants who enter the United Stated illegally and as the daughter of immigrant parents, I am fortunate to be born in this country.
The expansion of the West increased as railroads were distributed and precious minerals were discovered. With this expansion, Americans ran into a problem with the Native Americans living in the Great Plains. There were battles between the Indians and Americans, resulting in Americans pushing the natives out of their lands. The Dawes Act was passed, encouraging Indians to become civilized men and copy Americans. Attempting to change the native’s views and behavior failed, and threats multiplied towards them. Along with the natives, immigrants were not given the best opportunities and living. What can a country do when around one and a half million people immigrate in the span of 30 years? The “new” immigrants coming in were destitute and lacked education; their secluded communities made it tough for them to be suited in the American culture. Overcrowding, spread of disease, and lack of open jobs forced the federal government to establish the policy of The Immigration Act of 1882. This act required all aliens to pay a 50 cent tax upon arrival, as well as “passengers who appeared to be convicts, lunatics, idiots, or unable to take care of themselves were not permitted onto land.” The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was also passed, not allowing Chinese immigrate to America for 10 years. Disputes thrived over this act, saying the act was either
The United States is a nation that originated from immigrants. Many people have viewed the United States as a land of hope and freedom; but, it was exclusive and granted those rights to particular people. In the past, Congress had passed immigration policies that were restrictive because they excluded certain races and ethnicities while permitting others entrance to the United States. The Chinese Exclusion Acts and the Immigration Act of 1924 are two examples that restricted specific types of people from entering the United States. These two acts along with the Bracero Program and Immigration Act of 1965 helped to mold and shape the United States immigration policy today.
Immigration has been a topic that has caused multiple discussions on why people migrate from one country to another, also how it affects both the migraters and the lands they go. Immigration is the movement from one location to another to live there permanently. This topic has been usually been associated with sociology to better explain how it affects people, cultures and societies. Sociology has three forms of thinking that are used to describe and analyze this topic. There are three forms of thinking that are used to tell and describe immigration to society; structural functionalist, symbolic interactionist, and conflict theory. Each of these theories uses different forms of thinking and rationality to describe and explain socio topics.
Throughout the past centuries, immigration has had many positive and negative impacts on our country and society. Law and order have been the founding cornerstone of our democracy, and the mandate of the U.S. Constitution is for Congress to do the work of the people and that of the nation. Immigration has continuously been a passionate debate within our society. This particular topic will always be a sensitive subject due to Americans personal beliefs and morals.
Since the creation of the United States of America, the country has been a place that attracts immigrants from all around the world. As a result, The United States became a culturally and ethnically diverse country. This is due to the large-scale migration from many culturally, racially, and ethnically different countries throughout the history of the United States. The recent generations of culturally diverse immigrants see themselves assimilating to the American culture differently than the immigrants who came to the US two or three hundred years ago. The effect of assimilation caused some people to embrace the American identity, and detach from their original cultures. Assimilation caused some
Today, in most cases, people don’t spend very much time thinking about why the society we live in presently, is the way it is. Most people would actually be surprised about all that has happened throughout America’s history. Many factors have influenced America and it’s society today, but one of the most profound ways was the way the “Old Immigrants” and “New Immigrants” came to America in the early to mid 1800s. The “Old Immigrants were categorized as the ones who came before 1860 and the “New Immigrants” being the ones who came between 1865 and 1920. The immigrants came to the United States, not only seeking freedom, but also education. Many immigrants also wanted to practice their religion without hindrance. What happened after the immigrants
...accomplished the assimilation into one race, it consists of people sharing a similar identity. In the words of Richard Rodriguez, ?We are gathered together-but as individuals?we stand together, alone,? thus people will assimilate but as individual ?Americans?.