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Melting Pot? Immigration in

AmericaJoe Liotta and Taylor Clarke

What we tell ourselves:

“The bosom of America is open to receive not only the Opulent and respectable Stranger, but the oppressed and persecuted of all Nations and Religions; whom we shall welcome to a participation of all our rights and previleges [sic], if by decency and propriety of conduct they appear to merit the enjoyment.”

– George Washington

What we still tell ourselves:

President Obama on US immigration

http://cnn.com/video/?/video/politics/2010/04/23/sot.obama.az.immigration.cnn

Asian Americans and Immigration

• 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act set severe limits on the immigration of Chinese laborers. This restricted the growth of the Asian community in US, while European groups grew

•1917: Known as the Asiatic Barred Zone Act, established literacy tests for incoming immigrants and was meant to reduce the number of Asian immigrants.

Jewish ImmigrantsDuring the WWII and the Holocaust, the United States refused the entrance of hundreds of thousands of Jewish Immigrants fleeing Europe. Refusal came from a combination of Economic woes, high unemployment, and anti-Semitism.

European Immigrants

Immigration Act of 1921: Quotas based on 2% of that nation’s population in the US in 1890. Meant to restrict immigration of eastern and southern Europeans.

Immigration Law Throughout US History

1917: Known as the Asiatic Barred Zone Act, established literacy tests for incoming immigrants and was meant to reduce the number of Asian immigrants.

1921: Quotas based on 2% of that nation’s population in the US in 1890. Meant to restrict immigration of eastern and southern Europeans.

1965: Abolished the old quota system. Set annual immigration caps per hemisphere and at 20,000 per nation per year. But allowed migration chains (ie immigrants bringing in their family members later).

1986: Fined industries that hired illegal labor but also granted amnesty to the illegal immigrants who had been in the country prior to 1982.

Miss USA 2010 Rima Fakih

• The 24 year old winner of the Miss USA 2010 pageant immigrated to the United States from Lebanon as a baby.

• Lived in NYC, moved to Michigan

• Story glorified as “the American Dream”. Anyone born anywhere can come to the land of opportunity and find success.

What U.S. immigration is actually like:

Source: Immigrantslist.org

Results of Immigration Laws

As a result of limiting the amount of immigrants from Asia and Eastern and Southern Europe, the US found itself lacking in cheap manual labor for jobs in the agriculture industry.

The US then turned to immigrants from Mexico to compensate for the lack of unskilled labor coming from other countries.

Changing Positions Toward Illegal Immigration

In Rodolfo Acuna’s “Occupied America: A History of Chicanos”, Acuna asserts that the US changed its position toward illegal Mexican immigration depending on the economic situation in the country. After WWII and the Korean War, when the US underwent a time of economic prosperity, the Immigration and Naturalization Service eased crackdown on illegal immigrants, allowing them to work in factories and in fields. But during economic recessions, the INS rounded-up large numbers of Mexican workers (both legal and illegal) and deported them back to Mexico.

The reality: 2010 Arizona immigration

Senate Bill 1070: Arizona law that requires law enforcement to request identification papers when they have evidence to believe

the apprehended may be in country illegally.

“The bill is considered to be among the toughest immigration measures in the nation.”

Source: CNN

The reality: 2010 Arizona immigration

Governor Jan Brewer on the 2010 Arizona immigration law

http://cnn.com/video/?/video/us/2010/04/23/az.gov.immigration.announcement.kpnx

The reality: how Americans really feel

78% of Americans feel the government could do more to keep illegals out.

75% feel that illegal immigration is a drain on the U.S. economy.

89% feel that immigration in the U.S needs to be completely reworked.