Immigration and the United States

1
Immigration and the United States

• Chapter 4

2
Living Legacy of Immigration

• According to your text, the diversity of racial
  and ethnic backgrounds in America today is the
  result of immigration.
• Except for descendents of Native Americans and
  African Slaves, our population results from
  people who chose to come here from some other
  place.

3
Why do people immigrate?

• Economic reasons
• Political reasons
• Religious reasons
• Unite with family members who have preceded them
  in immigration
• Availability of transportation
• Unrestricted or de-regulated emigration

4
Mixed Emotions related to Reception of Immigrants

• Contradiction of Give me your tired, your
  poor?
• Resistance
• Restrictive Laws
• Xenophobia
• Even immigrants do not favor continued
  immigration

5
Early Immigration

• Exploration, conquest, settlement
• Colonization was encouraged
• Early on, immigration was unregulated and
  naturalization was easily accomplished
• 23 elected to stay after immigrating

6
Social Issues of Acceptance

• Xenophobia fear or hatred of strangers,
  especially foreigners
• Nativism beliefs and policies favoring
  native-born citizens over immigrants
• Range of rejection editorial words to violence
• One immigrant population often opposed another

7
Anti-Catholic Movement

• Anti-Irish
• Bigotry and fear of Papal domination
• Easier for subordinate groups to target one
  another than to compete with dominant group
• Economic fears as immigrants are willing to take
  undesirable jobs

8
Anti-Chinese Activities

• Initially provided needed manual labor
• Lack of understanding of Eastern culture produced
  sinophobes those who feared anything associated
  with China
• Racial bigotry
• 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act

9
Restrictions

• Dillingham Commission
• 1917 Immigration bill with literacy test
• National origins systems restrictive quotas
• 1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act
• Eligibility depended on reasons

10
Weblinks

• Ellis Island Go to the site and click on the
  pictures to enlarge them
• http//library.thinkquest.org/20619/Eivirt.html
• To experience some of what your ancestors and
  others experienced read their stories
• http//library.thinkquest.org/20619/index.html

11
Current Issues

• Brain Drain
• Unequal distribution of world resources
• Population Issues
• Uneven settlement
• Political power issues
• Illegal Immigration
• Public controversy
• Resource usage and allocation

12
Immigration Benefits and Concerns

• Potential Benefits
• Needed skills are provided
• They become taxpayers
• They may be equipped to start new businesses
• Diplomatic ties around world

• Areas of concern
• Home country loses expertise
• Dollars flow out of US economy
• Population growth
• Diplomatic/Political issues become more complex
• Illegal immigration

Table 4.1 page 118
13
Economic Issues

• Local impact or national scale?
• Social Science studies debunk stereotypes
• Migradollars remitting money earned in US to
  family members and friends in home country
• Proposition 187

14
Refugees

• People living outside their home country for fear
  of political or religious persecution
• What constitutes a valid reason to flea home
  country?
• Is poverty a sufficient reason?
• Repatriation issues

15
More Links

• What is it like to be a refugee? Check out the
  tsunami refugee site http//www.refugeesinternatio
  nal.org/content/article/detail/4765
• What is the state of affairs for children?
• http//www.unhcr.ch/children/glance.html
• Go to the UNHCR site and scroll to the bottom of
  the page. View the flash posters Internally
  Displaced Persons Whats the Difference?
  How does it feel? and explore the Nansen Award
  and its recipients
• http//www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home

16
Exit Exercise

• http//news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/w
  orld/2001/road_to_refuge/default.stm
• Go to the BBC site given above and view one of
  the slide shows Refugee Portraits or picture
  galleries Life in a Camp, go to one of the
  clickable guiedes and read some of the stories
  such as Behind Bars or Return to Berlin or a
  Refugee Story Torn Apart.