Immigration
"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!"
From The New Colossus, by Emma Lazarus
Questions to Consider
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What are the "push" factors that cause people to want to leave their home countries?
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What are the "pull" factors that cause people to want to settle in different countries?
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How does immigration affect destination countries?
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How do destination countries deal with large numbers of people who want to enter their borders?
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What should happen to people who enter a ccountry as an immigrant illegaly?
The United States is a nation of immigrants
It is well known that the only people who are native to the territory we now call the United States are the people we call Native Americans. All other races and ethnicities that are present in our country now established themselves here within the last few hundred years. What's your family's immigration story? How and when did your ancestors get here? Click on the button to the left for instructions for you personal immigration project.
Watch the video to the left, and take notes on the guide attached below. Pay close attention to the "push" and "pull" factors that resulted in unprecedented global migration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
America says . . .
it is the land of the free and the home of the brave.
it is one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all.
we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.
But have these statements always been true?
Timeline of US Immigration Policy
1790 Naturalization rule adopted. Federal government establishes a two-year residency requirement on immigrants wishing to become U.S. citizens.
1819 Reporting rule adopted. Data begins to be collected on immigration into the United States. Ships' captains and others are required to keep and submit manifests of immigrants entering the United States.
1875 First exclusionary act. Convicts, prostitutes, and "coolies" (Chinese contract laborers) are barred from entry into the United States.
1882 Immigration Act passed. The federal government moves to firmly establish its authority over immigration. Chinese immigration is curtailed; ex-convicts, lunatics, idiots, and those unable to take care of themselves are excluded. In addition, a tax is levied on newly arriving immigrants.
1885 Contract laborers' entry barred. This new legislation reverses an earlier federal law legalizing the trade in contract labor.
1891 Office of Immigration created. Established as part of the U.S. Treasury Department, this new office is later given authority over naturalization and moved to the U.S. Justice Department. (Today it is known as the Immigration and Naturalization Service.) In the same year, paupers, polygamists, the insane, and persons with contagious diseases are excluded from entry to the United States.
1892 Ellis Island opens. Between 1892 and 1953, more than 12 million immigrants will be processed at this one facility.
1903 Additional categories of persons excluded. Epileptics, professional beggars, and anarchists are now excluded.
1907 Exclusions further broadened. Imbeciles, the feeble-minded, tuberculars, persons with physical or mental defects, and persons under age 16 without parents are excluded.
1907 "Gentleman's agreement" between United States and Japan. An informal agreement curtails Japanese immigration to the United States. Also, the tax on new immigrants is increased.
1917 Literacy test introduced. All immigrants 16 years of age or older must demonstrate the ability to read a forty-word passage in their native language. Also, virtually all Asian immigrants are banned from entry into the United States.
1921 Quota Act. An annual immigration ceiling is set at 350,000. Moreover, a new nationality quota is instituted, limiting admissions to 3 percent of each nationality group's representation in the 1910 U.S. Census. The law is designed primarily to restrict the flow of immigrants coming from eastern and southern Europe.
1924 National Origins Act. The Act reduces the annual immigration ceiling to 165,000. A revised quota reduces admissions to 2 percent of each nationality group's representation in the 1890 census. The U.S. Border Patrol is created.
1927 Immigration Ceiling Further Reduced. The annual immigration ceiling is further reduced to 150,000; the quota is revised to 2 percent of each nationality's representation in the 1920 census. This basic law remains in effect through 1965.
1929National Origins Act. The annual immigration ceiling of 150,000 is made permanent, with 70 percent of admissions slated for those coming from northern and Western Europe, while the other 30 percent are reserved for those coming from Southern and Eastern Europe.
1948 Displaced Persons Act. Entry is allowed for 400,000 persons displaced by World War II. However, such refugees must pass a security check and have proof of employment and housing that does not threaten U.S. citizens' jobs and homes.
1952 McCarran-Walter Act. The Act consolidates earlier immigration laws and removes race as a basis for exclusion. In addition, the Act introduces an ideological criterion for admission: immigrants and visitors to the United States can now be denied entry on the basis of their political ideology (e.g., if they are Communists or former Nazis).
1965 Immigration Act is amended. Nationality quotas are abolished. However, the Act establishes an overall ceiling of 170,000 on immigration from the Eastern Hemisphere and another ceiling of 120,000 on immigration from the Western Hemisphere.
1978 World-wide immigration ceiling introduced. A new annual immigration ceiling of 290,000 replaces the separate ceilings for the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.
1980 Refugee Act. A system is developed to handle refugees as a class separate from other immigrants. Under the new law, refugees are defined as those who flee a country because of persecution "on account of race, religion, nationality, or political opinion." The president, in consultation with Congress, is authorized to establish an annual ceiling on the number of refugees who may enter the United States. The president also is allowed to admit any group of refugees in an emergency. At the same time, the annual ceiling on traditional immigration is lowered to 270,000.
1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act. The annual immigration ceiling is raised to 540,000. Amnesty is offered to those illegal aliens able to prove continuous residence in the United States since January 1,
1982 Stiff sanctions are introduced for employers of illegal aliens.
1990 Immigration Act of 1990. The annual immigration ceiling is further raised to 700,000 for 1992, 1993,and 1994; thereafter, the ceiling will drop to 675,000 a year. Ten thousand permanent resident visas are offered to those immigrants agreeing to invest at least $1 million in U.S. urban areas or $500,000 in U.S. rural areas. The McCarran-Walter Act of 1952 is amended so that people can no longer be denied admittance to the United States on the basis of their beliefs, statements, or associations.
1996 Immigration Act. In an effort to curb illegal immigration, Congress votes to double the U.S. Border Patrol to 10,000 agents over five years and mandates the construction of fences at the most heavily trafficked areas of the U.S.-Mexico border. Congress also approves a pilot program to check the immigration status of job applicants.
1996 Immigrants lose benefits. President Clinton signs welfare reform bill that cuts many social programs for immigrants. Legal immigrants lose their right to food stamps and Supplemental Security Income (a program for older, blind, and disabled people). Illegal immigrants become ineligible for virtually all federal and state benefits except emergency medical care, immunization programs, and disaster relief.