U.S. Immigration Policy History

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U.S. Immigration Policy History

• Has anything changed?
• Does history matter?

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The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus Not like the
brazen giant of Greek fame,With conquering limbs
astride from land to landHere at our
sea-washed, sunset gates shall standA mighty
woman with a torch, whose flameIs the imprisoned
lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles.From
her beacon-handGlows world-wide welcome her
mild eyes commandThe air-bridged harbor that
twin cities frame."Keep, ancient lands, your
storied pomp!" cries sheWith silent lips.
Give me your tired, your poor,Your huddled
masses yearning to breathe free,The wretched
refuse of your teeming shore.Send these, the
homeless, tempest-tost to me,I lift my lamp
beside the golden door!
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Significant Dates in U.S. Immigration Policy

• 1790 Naturalization Act Stipulated the first
  rules for granting national citizenship to
  immigrants. "Any alien, being a free white
  person, may be admitted to become a citizen of
  the United States." The law also stipulated that
  naturalized citizens must be of good moral
  character and have lived in the United States
  for at least two years prior to being granted
  citizenship. Courts were given jurisdiction to
  grant citizenship. It also noted that children of
  United States citizens born abroad were
  automatically citizens of the United States.
• 1798 Alien and Sedition Acts Increased the period
  someone had to have been in the U.S. to 14 years.
  President had unlimited authority to deport any
  enemy alien.

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1868 Ratification of the 14th Amendment to the
U.S. Constitution (passed by Congress June 13,
1866)Article I, section 2, of the Constitution
was modified by section 2 of the 14th amendment
stipulated,All persons born or naturalized in
the United States, and subject to the
jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United
States and of the State wherein they reside. No
State shall make or enforce any law which shall
abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens
of the United States nor shall any State deprive
any person of life, liberty, or property, without
due process of law nor deny to any person within
its jurisdiction the equal protection of the
laws.
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Red Gentleman to Yellow Gentleman  Pale face
'fraid you crowd him out , as he did me."
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Populist Democrats, and Republicans in the 1890s
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1882 The Chinese Exclusion Act prohibited Chinese
laborers from immigrating to the United States
over the next 10 years. The law specifically
mentioned skilled and unskilled laborers and
Chinese employed in mining. The law also
required that Chinese immigrants already in the
United States who left had to apply for
recertification to re-enter. In 1892 the law was
extended for another 10 years and in 1902 made
permanent. The law remained in effect until
passage of a broader immigration act in 1924.
The laws unintended effect encouraged
Japanese immigration to the U.S. and its
territories.
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Nativism

• Harpers Weekly Editorial, 1892
• http//immigrants.harpweek.com/There is no
  question that the Chinese are the most
  undesirable of immigrants, because, with all
  their useful qualities, they cannot assimilate
  socially or politically or morally with
  Americans. But the artificial stimulation of
  Chinese immigration is wisely checked by existing
  laws, and the only excuse for the introduction of
  the new bill is that the existing laws will soon
  expire. Those laws, however, are serving their
  purpose, and there is no public reason for not
  continuing them, instead of substituting more
  stringent provisions.

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The old boast that America is the asylum for the
oppressed of all races cannot be pleaded as a
reason for permitting any kind and extent of
immigration. If America is to offer the
opportunity of fairer play for all men than is
elsewhere practicable, it is to be done only by
the most careful regulation of immigration. As
American liberty does not mean individual
license, so, also, it does not mean abandonment
of the practical conditions of liberty. Other
countries are not to be allowed to impose their
duties upon us by transferring their swarming
criminals and paupers to our shores, and for the
same reason the refuse population of
semi-civilized or barbarous lands is not to be
thrown upon us.
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1892 The Ellis Island immigration processing
center opened on January 2nd in New Yorks
harbor. Other centers operated in Baltimore,
Boston, New Orleans, and San Francisco. From
1892-1924 almost 15 million immigrants entered
the United States and the vast majority came
through Ellis Island.
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Ellis Island Museum Online Resources

• Passenger Searchhttp//www.ellisisland.org/
• Genealogy Guideshttp//www.ellisisland.org/geneal
  ogy/index.asp
• The Immigration Experience
• http//www.ellisisland.org/Immexp/index.asp
• Peopling of America
• http//www.ellisisland.org/immexp/wseix_4_3.asp?MI
  D06833651060006239744

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Industrialization on Steroids
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire http//www.ilr.co
rnell.edu/trianglefire/
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The Progressives

• Hull House (1880sgt)http//www.uic.edu/jaddams/hul
  l/hull_house.html
• NYC Tenement House Museumhttp//www.tenement.org/
  

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Anti-child Labor Movement

• http//www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/childlabo
  r/

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The Shadow of World War I1917 - 1921 The
federal government passed a number of laws
limiting immigration. Such restrictions included
an overall quota system and passport
requirements. Congress tried to impose literacy
requirements, but President Woodrow Wilson vetoed
the bills.
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• The Oath of Allegiance to the United States
• I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and
  entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and
  fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state,
  or sovereignty, of whom or which I have
  heretofore been a subject or citizen
• that I will support and defend the Constitution
  and the laws of the United States of America
  against all enemies, foreign and domestic
• that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the
  same
• that I will bear arms on behalf of the United
  States when required by the law
• that I will perform noncombatant service in the
  Armed Forces of the United States when required
  by the law
• that I will perform work of national importance
  under civilian direction when required by the
  law and
• that I take this obligation freely, without any
  mental reservation or purpose of evasion so help
  me God.

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1924 Immigration Act This important law created a
permanent quota system, based on nation of
origin. It lowered the 1921 quota from 354,000 to
164,000. Quotas were allocated based on 2 percent
of each foreign-born group living in the United
States counted in the 1890 Census. This choice
meant the quotas for the newest group of
immigrants from southern and eastern Europe would
be low compared to their numbers in the general
population. Finally, the act provided for a
future reduction of the quota to 154,000 and
expanded the restriction on immigration to all
Asians, including Japanese, stating that no
person of Asian ancestry could become a
naturalized citizen. The quota system did not
apply to countries in the Western Hemisphere.
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Immigration Act of 1965

• New Era of Immigrationhttp//www.cis.org/articles
  /1995/back395.html

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LOC Changing Face of America

• Ethnicity Slide show
• http//memory.loc.gov/learn/features/immig/immigra
  tion_set2.html

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Sample U.S. Naturalization Test Questions How
many stars are there on the US flag? How many
states are there in the Union? What color are
the stars on the US flag? What do the stars on
the flag mean? How many stripes are there in the
flag? What date is the Day of Independence?
Independence from whom? What country did the US
fight during the revolutionary war? Who was the
first president of the United States? What do we
call a change in the constitution?
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• 1965 Immigration Act of 1965 Part of President
  Lyndon Johnsons Great Society, this law
  prohibited discrimination based on race, place of
  birth, gender, or national residence. It also set
  a new overall quota at 250,000.

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REDESIGNED TESTName one war fought by the United
States in the 1900s. What did Susan B. Anthony
do? What is Benjamin Franklin is famous for?
There were 13 original states. Name three. What
is one responsibility that is only for United
States citizens? What does the judicial branch
do? Name your U.S. Representative. Who makes
federal laws? What does the Constitution do?
What is the supreme law of the land?
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http//memory.loc.gov/learn/features/immig/immigra
tion_set2.html
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• http//www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis