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The illegal immigrants of today are very different in so many ways from those who came
hundred years ago. Immigration most of the time is viewed as the conflict, it has become a
significant issue in the United States from hundreds of years. In order to understand the impacts
that immigration brings it is crucial to also understand the evolution of immigration throughout
the history of the United States. The significant increase in the number of immigrant population
living and working in the United States has increased by almost a million every year.
Immigration is among the most compelling issues with which citizens as a country have faced.
This paper examines how immigrants have changed over the time, the consequences of coming
to the United States, and the reasons for immigrating to this country. This paper will be focused
on the history, policies, and impacts of immigration from years behind to todays immigration.
What is Immigration?
Immigration has been everywhere since thousands of years ago. The United States was
founded by immigrants (Gabbard, 2014). The meaning of immigration is constantly changing. It
is the number one issue on Americans minds. Migrants decisions are shaped by push, pull, and
neutral factors in both the place of origin and the place of destination (Bouvier, 1986).
Immigration started when human beings first came to America over the Bering Straits about
20,000 years ago. In 1790, it passed the first Naturalization Act, that imposed that any human
being, may be admitted to become a citizen of the United States. Immigration was also for
slaves, back to 1820, when the Industrial Revolution began thousands of immigrants started
working on the trans-continental railroad. Immigration happened and still happening everywhere
around the world. In 1840, Irish immigrants moved trying to escape a nightmare back home.
Many Irish, who depended on potatoes as their main food, died when the potato crops failed
(Osborne, 2016). Years ago immigrants were also blamed as of stealing jobs from American
workers. The Know-Nothings was one of the loudest protests in 1850, they were a famous
political party for its anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic leanings. It was very common that
families immigrated together during the 1880s. After the Great Depression, many immigrants
returned to their native lands, including hundreds of thousands of Mexicans. In the late 1930s,
with World War II in Europe, a new kind of immigration was introduced. It began to challenge
the quota system. The United States was able to admit more than 38,000 Hungarians between
1956 and 1957. During this era, United States received more woman than men in the country. In
1965, the quota system was gone, it was replaced by one offering hope to all the immigrants
around the world. Between the 80s and 90s immigration became a constant topic of political
debate. The government gave amnesty to more than 3 million immigrants in 1986 throughout
Immigration Reform Act.
(California State Parks, 2011). Nativists feared about immigration from Europe and Chine, as a
result legislators began looking for ways to restrict immigration into the United States.
In 1917 Congress decided to pass the Immigration Act. The purpose of this act was to
banned individuals from entering the country. By this way, the era of restriction started from
1917 to 1964. This era referred to new provisions banning the entry to immigrants over the age
of 16. This stipulation gave cause for the implementation of a literacy test as a means to gain
entry into the United States (Harvard University, 2013). During World War II, the need to build
alliances brought a change in the American immigration policy. After this, a labor shortage
happened in the United States. The Bracero Program occurred in 1943 established by President
Roosevelt. This program existed from 1943 to 1964. The Bracero Program allowed for the
importation of Mexican labor to help fill agricultural, and later, railroad labor vacancies left open
by the war (Heisler, 2008).
Radical changes come to immigration policy during era of liberalization from 1965 to
2000.
Professor Dali,
I will extend my question 1.
For my primary source, I'm planning to do a survey. This survey will ask
people what they think about immigration, what consequences do they think
immigration bring to the United States. Basically, I'm planning to extend my
four questions into multiple questions.
References
Bouvier, L. F., Gardner, R. W. (1986). Immigration to the U.S.: The Unfinished Story.
Washington, D.C.: Population Reference Bureau, Inc.
California State Parks. (2011). Angel Island State Park: Immigration station. Retrieved from
http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=1309
Gabbard, W. J., Jaggers, J., & Jaggers, S. J. (2014). The Devolution of U.S. Immigration Policy:
An Examination of the History and Future of Immigration Policy. Journal of Policy
Practice. Retrieved from
http://0ejournals.ebsco.com.lib.utep.edu/Direct.asp?
AccessToken=23L1S9L8SAEMEHXZXWZA9ZMZZMFM8S1YSS&Show=Object
Harvard University. (2013). Aspiration, acculturation, and impact: Immigration to the United
States, 17891930. Retrieved from: http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/
immigration/dillingham.html
Heisler, B. S. (2008). The Bracero Program and Mexican migration to the United States. Journal
of the West, 47(3), 6572.
Lee, E. (2002). The Chinese exclusion example: Race, immigration, and American gatekeeping,
18821924. Journal of American Ethnic History, 21(3), 3662.
Osborne, L. B. (2016). This Land Is Our Land: A History of American Immigration. Harry N.
Abrams.