The effects of Immigration- in depth

The main focuses of immigration have been the political and economical aspects of the affects it has on immigrants. I wanted to gear my attention first to the emotional and social aspects of immigration. They do play an important role in the processes of immigration as I have noticed from reading and gaining a general knowledge on it. Immigration undeniably effects those attempting to enter a country but it has a very large affect on the family as a whole. Some family members would not want to immigrate and could not be allowed to. The immigrants are faced with many insufficient finances as a result. Once the immigrant is settled in the new country, many times the "melting pot effect" or assimilation comes to play. Meaning, that the formation of new families are torn between keeping their original cultures traditions or adjusting to the new country's ways of the dominant culture. Certain cultures that are practiced could be illegal in a given country which becomes challenging to the immigrants to retain their original culture and are forced to adapt. Finances are another challenge for immigrants and often rely on their family in their home country to assist them. After all of these issues that can affect the immigration process there should be some sorts of rights that can help immigrants flourish in a new country.

Primary Source- rights of immigrants

Immigrants often lived close to other immigrants who are of the same nationalities. They would group together to speak that language of their native country. It gave them the opportunities to practice their native traditions. Although, the point in immigrating to America is to begin new traditions and start a new life. Some immigrants lean towards these communities because that is what they are used to. They feel they are more comfortable in areas with the same people and same traditions, but how will they learn to expand their horizon and form new traditions and live in other communities with different people. Some immigrants get too comfortable in their society where they don't even learn English and just speak their native language. A man who immigrated from Poland says he wants to be an American citizen but most of the people he knows are polish. He works and even lives with them. The American society he lives in is no different from Poland. He says that he wants to "live with american people, but I do not know anybody of american." He feels enclosed in this polish society but wants to be a polish living in an American society not in a polish society in America. This man has the right to take an English course and have a paying job but he does not have the best pay therefore he cannot pay for the English classes. He cant get a better paying job because he doesn't know English. He says he "don't like be like them I wanted they help me in english." He doesn't want to be like other immigrants who never learn English and go on with their lives only knowing the kind of society their used to from their native country. So many immigrants struggle to learn English and live up to their true potential in the new nation they'll live in. Should immigrants be given better rights by giving them the proper resources to live up to their potential as an American citizen?

Proposition 187 (1994)- Primary

The Proposition 187, mandated in 1994, prohibited illegal immigration into the state of California. Many Californians felt that they had the constitutional right to be protected in any way necessary. For the past decade or so, these residents had felt endangered by the growing amount of illegal immigrants that settled in California. The reason that they had felt so endangered was because illegals had been taking their jobs, as well as contributing to many criminal violences that disrupted the citizens of the state. Due to this, the Proposition 187 had been created. In this document, regulations had been made against illegal immigrants. This document separates, into sections, the different clauses that illegal immigrants and citizens of California must abide to. Many of these clauses consisted of if an illegal is to be found, they must be reported to the Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS). The result of this would be that the illegal would be questioned to figure out their origin. If their true origin is not America, then they would have to deal with the consequences. Consequences would include five years of prison or a fine of twenty-five thousand dollars. The reason that such consequences existed is so that illegal immigrants would be conscientious with the decision of living in America illegally. Along with this notation, illegal immigrants that have not yet come to America would already know the consequence of if they are to be caught. These regulations were made to be enforced and to eliminate the illegal immigrants that resided in California because the protection of Californian citizens was very important at the time.

America - A Cultural Melting Pot?

 Why/how is America known as a melting pot? Is it actually?

A lot of people have heard the saying that America is a cultural melting pot. This is because of the fact that each and every one of us can trace our roots from somewhere other than America. The United States are glorified as a diverse country where people of all backgrounds are accepted, but is this true? When you take a look at our history it is evident that minorities have had struggled whether it be differences in skin color, appearance, or even sexual orientation. The unfortunate truth is that almost immediately after the United Colonies became a country, America has welcomed only selected immigrants at selected times and under certain circumstances. If you were to look at our history, you would see a vast timeline of different Immigration Regulation. Whether it be limiting the flow of immigrants, or banning immigrants of certain countries (which many times were caused by other political agendas) - America has always been somewhat exclusive. In fact, dozens of laws were added regarding regulating immigration from 1790-1968 until finally an Act eliminated U.S. immigration discrimination based on race, place of birth, sex and residence.

How Illegal Immigration Has Helped America-Indepth

According to the Pew Hispanic Center, America has become a home for more than twelve million illegal immigrants. Due to these immigrants being illegal, they are not able to maintain citizenship in this country; but still they must work in order to survive. Therefore, these immigrants do jobs that some may classify as lower level jobs that no other America wants to do. This helps America because if no one does the dirty work that is needed, then the extensive work that people want to do cannot be done. These jobs can consist of anything: fruit picking, washing dishes, packing meat, sweeping the floor, etc. Illegal immigrants do these jobs because they know it will help Americans and help themselves. By having this mind set, illegal immigrants already conspire the American Dream and what it means to be an American. With the illegal immigration rate increasing, it's easy to think that the American government is not strict about keeping illegals out. However, billions of dollars are being spent every year to patrol the area and to rebuild the border that is destined to keep illegals out. Now, many have come to think that maybe there should not be a border because billions of dollars being wasted and illegal immigrants are still entering the country. Not only that, but the illegal immigrants are helping the country by helping the economy by getting jobs that are not high in demand, because basic Americans do not want to do them.

What was the effect, after WWI, from the other countries, after we had deferred some of their immigrants?

Many countries were experiencing mass emigration to the U.S. for numerous reasons but mostly it was from "economic pressure, political unrest and war weariness"(Historical Newspapers), that so many immigrants were accepted and allowed to gain citizenship. The war had caused problems all through out Europe and it fit in with the new need for fresh labor. The unaffected United States created a safe haven which allowed immigrants to escape the fear of war and threat of more violence. Their was no call for restriction, by the nativists, on the immigration yet and it made the U.S. a more liked place for foreigners. Their was no tensions or hostilities from other governments and countries as their became more emigration to the U.S., this allowed previous thoughts on the U.S.(disapproval of joining the Allied effort late) to dissipate.

What is the purpose of having a Visa in place?

The immigration background was a very different experience that what I had imagined.  The whole idea started with Aristotle when he proposed the idea of having people actually be part of a state, rather than just living in it. Aristotle said that just because people live in the same area, the people are not one with the state.  He went on and said that the people are citizens when they have some influence in how the country should be ruled.  He continued to talk about a democracy, where the people control how the government should act and all peoples' powers are equal to one another unless elected to have more power than the people.  Abraham Lincoln talked about a government made by the people, for the people during his great speech at Gettysburg.  Some countries believed that if a person gets in trouble with the state, then that person should lose his or her citizenship because the lack of control to be part of the country.  Immigration is one of four ways to become part of the state, the other three are to be born in the state, marry a citizen of the state, or naturalization which comes over time.  Between the 1990 and 2000, an estimated 9 million immigrants came into the country with visas supported by their friends, family, or people who want to help immigrants move into a "better" life, future, and or opportunity; the high amount of immigrants that cant get visas and enter into the country illegally, the job opportunities are getting smaller and smaller and the consumption of goods is getting less and less.  This caused the economy to drop.  People who came in to the states with visas, pay money to the US treasury which would help financially support the country as a whole.  This also amounts to people getting pay, thus the US would end up losing their money.  Asian students who came into the US for the purpose to study, with the study visa, contribute about $12 billion into the US which show how many people actually apply to get a visa and how much they contribute to help out the US indirectly.

What restrictions were caused by war and restrictions were lessened by it?

In World War I their was a great influx of emigrations to the United States that preceded the immigration restriction laws. "The war itself, although it sharply decreased migration from Europe, nevertheless created a climate of opinion favorable to restriction."(Hutchinson) This led into the creation of two Quota Acts, the first which received a pocket veto from the President but was later signed and the second one that passed with support from much of Congress and the President. Both were put in place to determine the amount of people that could come to America and from where. The original Act allowed 3% of the nation to be people who immigrated, but the 2nd Act lowered it to 2% because the restrictive legislature did not seem to be doing enough, in terms of lessening the immigration's per year. This legislature was not changed until the discriminatory legislature was brought to public eye and shown the real nature of those laws. The effect of the Civil War on the U.S. was an entirely different outcome where most of the populace that had owned slavers, were actually in need of more labor and more immigration's to the U.S.  The times during Reconstruction were problematic because of the complications that arose from lack of previous workers(blacks) and not enough immigration into some of the states that had been slave states. "Many believe that on account of a low birth rate and the emigration of Negroes, labor would become so scarce as to make imperative the introduction of outsiders."(Woody) This fear was that the emigrations from the U.S. would not equal out with the immigration's into the U.S. The restrictions were lessened after the end of the Civil War and the hostile tensions between Americans and immigrants ceased as the U.S. was still recuperating from the Civil War.

What restrictions are there on naturalization?

Naturalization is when an immigrant becomes a citizen by being born in the United States. An immigrant can also be naturalized by applying for naturalization. When I first learned about Naturalization, I thought that for sure there would be a lot of restrictions or special cases an immigrant would need to pass in order to become naturalized. For an adult who is applying for naturalization, they must have been a resident for at least five years, demonstrate good moral character, and have an obligation to swear an oath of allegiance to the United States. Once naturalized, an immigrant gets the same rights and status as a natural-born citizen of the United States. A special case of naturalization is when an adopted child who is an immigrant becomes naturalized when one of the adopting parents are a citizen at the time of adoption. Children can become naturalized when their parents become naturalized. Naturalization is one of the only ways that an immigrant can obtain full citizenship and the full rights that come with, which makes naturalization the goal for many immigrants.

Why/How did the U.S. Government chose to regulate the Chinese?

I am answering this question because a few people in our group mentioned the significance of the The Chinese Exclusion Act.

Answer - 

The Chinese Exclusion Act excluded "skilled and unskilled [Chinese] laborers employed in mining" from entering the country for ten years under penalty of imprisonment and deportation. This occurred during the end of the United State's "Gold Rush" As gold became harder to find competition increased because of the high value of Gold. Hate towards the Chinese and other foreigners in general increased. After being forcibly driven from the mines, and sometimes beaten after the C.E.A. most Chinese settled in cities, and worked low end wage labor such as restaurant and laundry work. Anti-Chinese animosity became politicized by labor leader Denis Kearney and his Workingman's Party as well as by California Governor John Bigler, both of whom blamed Chinese "coolies" for depressed wage levels. In addition, white supremacist groups added to the already existing tension.

Either know the Chinese Exclusion Act only mentioned Chinese miners, it served as another hoop for Chinese immigrant to jump through. The few Chinese non-laborers who wished to immigrate had to receive certification papers from the Chinese government that they were qualified to immigrate, which were difficult to prove.

Was there a prominent reason that made Immigrants not want to come to America during the Civil War?

Looking throughout history, following what past immigrants have decided, has been able to lead me through an amazing historical journey. I saw that all immigrants chose immigration for multiple reasons and some of the main reasons was that one country was doing better economically than their own or relatives that had emigrated before chose to share stories of greater wealth or adventure in the place they emigrated to. In America I saw how the growth in our economy reflected upon the growth in immigration and vice versa. The times during war, showed how even though it was a opportunistic time for immigrants, the risks outweighed the advantages and immigration reached all-time lows after the beginning of major wars, especially internally (Civil War). When the Civil War was becoming more apparent and inevitable, the economy was slowing down, and with it the incoming immigrants, possibly because of the fear of being drafted depending on how the war was going. As the war developed it became apparent how it was possible for any immigrants to be drafted towards the end of the war if it prolonged for more than the 5 years it took to become a citizen. With this in mind it caused a lot more awareness of the risks and in the reduction of immigrants during the wartime.

Initial Illegal Response

An immigrant is a person who enters a country and becomes a resident of this country. What if someone cannot get the correct paperwork to enter the country in a fast enough time? For many emigrants, this has happened. Since this occurred, they were forced to become illegal immigrants of America because they no longer wanted to live in the country that they originated from. In the late 1800s, immigration rates had dropped, which attracted the eyes of the people and the government. The government had found that the immigration rate had dropped so vigorously, in one year, because harsher regulations were mandated when entering the country. The government had noticed that the unemployment rate was increasing due to the increase in population, thus they dominated immigration laws. Aliens, at the time, were not allowed citizenship until they had passed certain tests. However, they were granted native citizen rights because they were protected under the Constitution in the sense that they could not be used as slaves or could not have equal things as Americans. But because they didn't have equal rights, they were restricted from doing many things in America. They were not allowed to have certain jobs because those jobs were primarily given to the citizens of America. Since living in America was becoming harder, many immigrants had to illegally enter into the country. Sailing and other means of transportion had vigorous inspections. These inspections were used to eliminate any illegal immigrants that wanted to enter the country. Even though these inspections were made, immigrants were still able to get their way into the country. As the turn of the century came, and two decades had passed, many immigrants had found that working at low-income jobs was where they were most accepted. However, in 1920, regulations were made in order to decrease the amount of immigrants that could work in factories because many of these immigrants were illegal. The government, along with many other citizens, thought that these jobs should be given to actual citizens of the country because they are the ones that help with the economy. As the years continued, more and more Immigration Acts were created to restrict incoming immigrants. The government thought that these laws would certainly help the country with its immigration issue, but during World War II, things had changed. Discovering the poor relations the America had with other countries, the government repealed many of the Acts that they had created before. Now anyone could enter back into the country as long as they went through the immigration process and application. Unfortunately, throughout history-leading up to today, many immigrants wanting to enter the country find this process to be excessive and time consuming, therefore they do not fill out the proper paper work, leaving America with the issue of illegal immigration and overpopulation.

What did the Immigration Act of 1924 do?

During my research of basic information of the Visas and what is an alien, I found out many new things about getting a Visa and how much effort is put in to get one.  Although the year was in 1924, the regulations were very strict.  Even leaving the states and coming back was regulated by people checking boat docks to make sure everyone coming in to the states is legal.  There were also many exceptions to leaving the states and coming back, many were regulations to make sure that any citizen that leaves, is still a citizen when they come back if they meet certain requirements i.e. work for the government.  There were also many people who could not get in because they did not meet all of the requirements to become a citizen of the US of A; which in turn made many people upset.  Not only that regulation, but there could only be a certain amount of visas the could be given out to people, so it was also a competition against their friends of who could earn the visa.  Aliens were also talked about as people who are coming in to the States from a different country.  They were not allowed in unless they had a visa, but learning about what makes a person be considered as an alien was

Peter and Tim are doing Citizenship

Maria is doing Immigrants Rights

Alex and Ryan are doing Regulation

Ryan Singh Illegal Immigration

Matt Hilman and Jack are doing Times of War

First Day Thoughts

  As I was looking through some of the articles I had read, I realized that there were so many rules to getting into the States.  I knew of the visas that people could get, but there are so many regulations that changed over the years.  There were also two acts that were created for the purpose of creating rules to get into the States.  It was interesting to read about how many people would try and get visas and just get denied, but people kept on trying to get visas.  Asians came in to California, and Europeans came in through Ellis Island.  Reading about how many people would come in through boats and just pile the boats to the top and make for new land hoping for a quick fresh start, which never came quickly, but most people came to a new good start after a few decades.  Many Irish were facing social discrimination from others just because they were Irish.  During WWII, Japanese people were not getting into the US and any Japanese person that was currently living in the US was moved over to "protection camps" which kept the Japanese away from the US or the other way around.  Many color differences in towns and cities that were known for immigrants. Many big towns had blocks meant for certain colors so many cities were discriminated within their towns.  I felt like having the different sectors did not allow people to mingle with others of different race nor did other colors get jobs in certain sections of cities because of the divide.  New immigrants were also treated poorly by those who lived int the US for a while.

Day 1 Observation

Over the centuries, citizens from all over the world have come to America to find better opportunities. Throughout history, people have tried to escape dictatorship, poverty, inequality, and more; and decided that the best thing to do was to come to America. They saw America as a free nation that portrayed multiple opportunities for anyone willing to contribute to the nation. Since then, people from all over the world: Europe, Asia, South America, North America, and Antarctica have come to America to better their lives. Today, these people make up a majority of the citizens that live in this nation. They are the ones that help our government, economy, education, and more. This has been an important input into our nation because it has caused America to continue to develop into one of the leading countries in the world. An issue with immigration that has risen in the past few decades is the idea of illegal immigration. Now, it is very difficult to enter into America. It can take up to ten years for one person to be properly admitted into the country. This process has become so difficult because it ensures that the person entering can benefit the country. With the population rate increasing so fast, it is important that America regulates the amount of immigrants that enter the country because resources are becoming very scarce. The Immigration Act of 1924 began this idea of constraining immigrants due to population. In this Act, only 2% of each nationality living in America could use visas to enter the country. This Act excluded citizens from Asia. This caused controversy with many Asian countries, especially Japan. Japan protested against America, but America found it to be more important to regulate racial differences since racism was a big issue in America. Now, however, people of the Asian ethnicity are allowed into America and they have become increasingly productive citizens of our country. With so many people coming from all over the world into one nation, so many new opportunities are found everyday, which can benefit America as a whole.

General knowledge of immigration- first submission

For the past few days, I was able to get a general insight on the background of immigration. Immigration has been a large affect on America's relationship between different nations. Some of the countries who created a large majority of society in America were Western Europe, England and Scotland. The Irish was one of the many groups who entered America looking for opportunity but received poor treatment. Including the Irish, the Germans, Italians, Swedes, Finns, and Jews dealt with a lot of social prejudice and social isolation. Immigration also came into play during times of war. When America was involved in specific wars, immigration would either halt or become very strict during that time. After, there would be many revisions to how they could improve the immigration process. There were many regulations that included or excluded certain groups from entering the country. For example, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 started to limit the amounts of people entering the U.S. It is interesting to see how different movements can affect which individuals or groups are allowed to come into the country legally. I also briefly read about the conflict of illegal immigration and the large impact it has on the structure of the immigration system.

Thoughts on First Day

I was able to look at a lot of the history between the United States and its relations with Cuba, Mexico and some countries from Europe, like Poland, Italy, Ireland and Germany. These countries all had many emigrants to the U.S. and their citizens recount how they saw a brighter future in America. The articles also lead me to see the founding fathers view on foreigners and how America is composed of immigrants. The motto "E pluribus unum" meaning "Out of many, One". This describes how America is made up of people from all around the world, that are in essence, Americans. The past, present and future of America all depends on how the foreign relations with other counties and the people there, who might become immigrants to America. The articles I have read today have made me want to find out more about foreign relations with other countries in times of war and times of terrorist attacks from citizens of other countries.

Sub-categories

-Illegal
    -Mexican Border
-Citizenship
    -Green Card
    -Immigration Visa
    -Citizenship Test
-Immigrants rights
    -Restrictions
-Regulation
    -Ellis Island
    -Immigration Acts
    -Mexican border
-Times of war
    -Post-9/11
    -Japanese immigrants during World War II