The immigration debate

The history of immigration in the United States

The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

…He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

Early years

6,000 a year (numbers are uncertain)

French refugees (slave revolt in Haiti) After 1820 federal records were kept

Irish (famine of 1845-1849) .5 million Germans

1850 first census to ask for “place of birth” 90% of population was native born

Timeline of US immigration laws

1776 - Unrestricted 1795 - Naturalization Act - Citizenship limited to "free white

persons" residing in the US who renounce allegiance to former country

1798 - Alien & Sedition Acts - President is given the right to expel "aliens" deemed dangerous to country (only lasted a few years)

1850s - Emergence of "Know Nothing Party" seeking to "purify" the nation by restricting immigration and altering citizenship requirements (lasted less than 10 years)

1882 - Chinese Exclusion Act - Fear of competition from Chinese workers led to prevention of any further Chinese entering the US

1885 - Contract Labor Laws - Prohibited contracts for cheap foreign labor

1892 - Ellis Island, NY set up to regulate immigration 1917 - Immigration Act of 1917 - Further restrictions on

immigration, expanding the classes of foreigners excluded from US. It imposed a literacy test and designated an Asiatic Barred Zone.

1921 - Congress establishes first quota system for immigrants 1924 - National Origins Act reduced quotas of immigrants

deemed "less desirable", such as Russian (Jews) and Italians (Catholics)

1942 - Bracero program 1948 - Displaced Persons Act 1952 - Immigration and Nationality Act - Consolidation of

immigration laws and abolished Asian Barred Zone. 1953 - Refugee Relief Act 1954 - Operation Wetback

1965 - Immigration and Nationality Act - national origin quotas abolished, annual limit imposed on visas for immigrants

1980 - Refugge Act increased overall refugee quotas 1986 - Immigration Reform and Control Act granted lawful

permanent residency to over 2.7 million undocumented immigrants

1990 - Immigration Act established categories of employment and placed cap of number of non-immigrant workers

1992 - Chinese Student Protection 1996 - Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility

Act - imposted strict penalties against illegal immigration and expanded definition of deportable offenses

Selected text taken from www.ailf.org

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

1848 Concluded the Mexican War Citizenship for residents

60,000 New Mexico 4,000 California

The 20th. Century

Mexican Revolution (1911-1929) drove close to 1 million refugess across a porous border.

Some returned during the Great Depression.

The Evian Conference

July 1938 Failed to pass resolution protecting Jews in

Germany.

resistance

“In the past 50 years, polling data have charted a deepening opposition to immigration, linked in part, it appears, to economic concerns.”

National Academy of Science study: Smith, James P. & Barry Emondston, eds., “The New Americans: Economic, Demographic, and Fiscal Effects of Immigration” (1997)

Countries with the largest number of immigrants in the US

Country Population in 2004

Total foreign born 34,860,000

Mexico 8,544,600

China 1,594,600

Phillipines 1,413,200

India 1,244,200

Cuba 1,011,200

Vietnam 997,800

El Salvador 899,00

Dominican Republic 791,600

We are a nation of immigrants because… 56 million people 20% of the population is either a first

generation immigrant or has one or both immigrant parents.

Schmidley, Dianne, U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Reports, Series P23-206, “Profile of the Foreign-Born Population in the United States: 2000”, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 2001.

Some definitions

Citizen : sworn loyalty to a nation Naturalization: process by which citizenship is

conferred period of continuous residence and physical presence in the

United States; residence in a particular USCIS District prior to filing; an ability to read, write, and speak English; a knowledge and understanding of U.S. history and

government; good moral character; attachment to the principles of the U.S. Constitution; and, favorable disposition toward the United States.

…Some definitions

Resident : intending to stay Undocumented : lacking permission Illegal : prohibited by law or accepted rules Guest worker : foreign labor hired on temporary or

permanent basis (Federal Guestworker Program)

Economic migrant: guest worker, foreign worker Resident alien: foreign national living and working in

the United States Refugee : seeking asylum to escape persecution

…Some definitions

Documents : official papers that prove the existence of relationships and facts

“Green cards”: Lawful Permanent Residency Visa : allows the bearer to apply for entry, does not

grant the right to enter the US (BCBP) Citizenship : membership in a political community Border : geographic boundaries of political entities.

WASHINGTON October 1, 2006. (Washington Post) -- The Senate gave final approval last night to legislation authorizing the construction of 700 miles of double-layered fencing on the U.S.-Mexico border, shelving President Bush's vision of a comprehensive overhaul of U.S. immigration laws in favor of a vast barrier.

Alien

Any person not a citizen or national of the United States (USCIS)

National: a person owing permanent allegiance to a state

strange

unknown

dissimilar opposed

inconsistent incongrous

adverse not native

outsider

outlander

Creature from

outer space

It all depends on your point of view Emigrate Immigrate migrate

Something to think about

What is the best way to describe the immigration history of the US?

What is the current image of the immigrant? Why?

In terms of “ups” and “downs” where are we in the historic cycles of immigration?

U.S. PopulationNative and Foreign-born

0

50,000,000

100,000,000

150,000,000

200,000,000

250,000,000

300,000,000

1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

Foreign Born Population as Percentage of Total Population

0.0

2.0

4.0

6.0

8.0

10.0

12.0

14.0

16.0

1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

U.S.

SOUTH

S. Atlantic

N.C.

Foreign-born Population as a Percentage of Total Population from Decennial Census and post-2000 ACS estimates

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

1850 1880 1910 1940 1970 2000

U.S.

SOUTH

S. Atlantic

N.C.

Estimated Foreign-born Population as Percentage of Estimated Total Poplulation

0

0.02

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.1

0.12

0.14

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

U.S.

South

South Atlantic

N.C.

October 1, 2006  

Congress okays 700 mile border fence with Mexico

WASHINGTON October 1, 2006. (Washington Post) -- The Senate gave final approval last night to legislation authorizing the construction of 700 miles of double-layered fencing on the U.S.-Mexico border, shelving President Bush's vision of a comprehensive overhaul of U.S. immigration laws in favor of a vast barrier.

Resources on line

http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/ Latino studies program at Indiana Univerisity

http://www.cis.org/ (Center for Immigration Studies) “Pro-immigrant low-immigration think tank”

http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/immigration/about/lisa.htm (L.I.S.A. Longitudinal Immigrant Student Adaption Study at NYU)

http://www.ccis-ucsd.org/PUBLICATIONS/working_papers.htm

(working papers of Center for Comparative Immigration Studies at University of California at San Diego)

http://hapi.ucla.edu (Hispanic American Periodicals Index)

Database of Latin American journal articles