Immigration Policies Describe U.S. Immigration Policies Within

Immigration Policies

Describe U.S. Immigration policies within a historical framework.

The current policies of the United States toward immigration are much different when compared to the historical strategies of the country. As: work was bountiful, immigrants were entering the nation in droves, and the availability of jobs was suited to employ the masses of people. The reason why is because historically, immigration was encouraged. This is because, it was considered to a part of building of a new country which required: many hands and individuals from different classes in society.

The earliest immigrants were either characterized as being from: Northern European countries or they were Africans, who were forcefully sent to the nation as slaves. This is because of the promise of better financial circumstances led many to relocate to America (in effort to seek out these opportunities). While this persisted for those emigrating from their places of birth, the perception of immigrants and the aspirations to encourage them began to dwindle for Americans in the late 19th century. What happened was shift occurred in where they were coming from. At which point, most immigrants on the East Coast were much darker such as: Italians, Slavs, and Eastern Jews. The West Coast began to see Japanese and Chinese immigrants arriving in droves (Benton, 2010, pg. 4).

One of the first limitations in immigration policy occurred in 1893, as this coincidentally involved deporting an Asian immigrant. As, the case Fong Yue Ting v U.S. marked the restrictions on immigration of those nationalities and groups that were considered to be undesirable. This is important, because this allowed the federal government to become empowered in restricting not only Chinese immigrants, with the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, but all races and ethnicities. As, specific groups that were targeted based on: the assumption that they were physically or morally unfit to adapt socially to American society (Hester, 2010, pp. 11-12).

This shift in U.S. policy toward immigration is partly through the reluctance of Americans to offer the same opportunities to: races and ethnicities deemed from lower social economic groups. Another reason is that the amount of immigrants increased the foreign portion of the population to 14.7%. This caused many Americans to become concerned. As they were surrounded by new nationalities, an abundance of languages, and they questioned whether these people should be allowed to live in the country. (Benton, 2010, pg. 4).

To counter the swelling growth of this group of the population, the Immigration Act of 1907 was approved by Congress. As this forbid, those individuals with Japanese passports the right enter the country. This law began the federal government's role in limiting immigration (Benton, 2010, pg. 8). What happened was literacy tests for immigrants and the exclusion of Asian immigrants were approved by Congress in 1917 (despite three presidential vetoes). (Benton, 2010, pg. 19). Quotas on immigration began in 1929 as the United States relished in the ideas of isolationism. Under this policy the total number of immigrants was limited to one tenth of the population. These limitations were strongly encouraged by the Dillingham Commission reports given to Congress in 1910 and 1911. (Benton, 2010, pp. 20-21). An interesting note is that immigrants coming to the United States at that time (i.e. Hispanics), were not limited by these quotas. This is because they were not counted in the same manner as those immigrants arriving from overseas. As a result, this segment went after agricultural and industrial jobs were taken by Hispanics (thanks in part to: European, Japanese, and Chinese immigrants facing limitations form the quotas) (Benton, 2010, pg. 23).

Summarize the benefits and consequences of immigration labor for the U.S. economy.

With the current surge in Hispanic migration, the policies toward this group are changing in response to the escalation in the number of people migrating (just like what occurred in the late 19th and early 20th centuries). This is because of: the threats of terrorism and the issue of having unknown people entering the United States. As, this led to the criminalization of undocumented workers through: more stringent enforcement standards (even as federal laws remained unchanged). (Androff, 2011, pg. 80).

The recent hard-line approach toward immigration began in 1996 when two forms of legislation were enacted. The first law that was ratified was the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act. This nationalized Social Security coverage and social services for legal as well as undocumented immigrants. Where, this increased the ability of the states to exclude immigrants (both legal and undocumented) from various government programs (such as: food stamps). The events of September 11th intensified anti-immigration sentiment. As, the United States government began aggressively enforcing immigration laws, against those who were in the country illegally (Androff, 2011, pp. 80-81).