Immigration and its Evolution in the United States
Introduction
Immigration refers to the transfer of immigrants from one country to another with the purpose of creating a new permanent residence. Since the colonial period in the 1820s, the United States has undergone immigrants. Many citizens immigrated to America in search of economic and religious opportunities. According to statistics gathered from 1820 to 2010, immigration to the United States has varied (Bessette and Pitney 97). As a result, this paper reflects on how immigration policy has evolved throughout US history. There have been three stages of immigration in the United States: unrestricted, limited, and new immigration.
Unrestricted Immigration
Open immigration is the period after independence in the United States that lasted for one century until 1875. During this time, the new nation had no limit for voluntary immigration, since there were more jobs than people to work them and more land than people to fill it (Bessette and Pitney 98). The competition among states for immigrants grew, leading to many Germans gaining an interest in working in the United States. The increased number of immigrants in the US became a major concern and in 1798, the Aliens Act was enacted to deport dangerous people. In the same year, the Alien Enemies Act was also passed by the Congress to deport, confine, and apprehend individuals from countries at war with the US. The two acts did not limit the number of immigrants and the then President John Adams did not deport aliens as per the acts. In the unrestricted immigration period, the open-borders policy did not change.
Restricted Immigration
The year 1875 marked the end of unrestricted immigration and the beginning of the restricted immigration. The US farmlands and cities had been filled by many immigrants from different cultural backgrounds posing a threat to the country. Therefore, there was pressure from the public which influenced the Congress to pass the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882. The Chinese Exclusion Act restricted Chinese laborers and the mentally impaired from entering the United States (Bessette and Pitney 99). In 1891, those with dangerous diseases, polygamists, and those previously convicted of a crime were prohibited from entering the United States. The anarchists as well as the immigrants who advocated for the overthrow of the US government were also restricted from living in America in 1903.
The Gentleman’s Agreement between the Japanese government and the then US President Theodore Roosevelt was passed in 1907 over growing concerns of the “yellow peril.” The agreement ensured that Japan would restrict passports for its citizens who want to work in the United States. Also, the US government was to allow Japanese citizens already in their country to bring their families and stay in America. Congress established the Bureau of Immigration in a bid to gain control over immigration within the Department of Treasury in 1891, and this lead to the opening of the Immigration Processing Center in 1892. In 1924, Congress enacted an Immigration Act establishing a national origins quota system where the nationality of immigrants was limited to 2% of their number initially residing in the US from 1890 (Bessette and Pitney 100).
Modern Immigration
According to the American Government and Politics by Bessette and Pitney (2013), Congress removed the total ban on Chinese immigrants and limited them to 105 per year in 1943. The Cold War experienced in 1956 created many refugees and the US allowed many immigrants to move to the country at that time. The quota system was also abolished by the Congress in 1965 following President John Kennedy’s intervention in 1963 because of the lack of international benefit in the system (Bessette and Pitney 100). Therefore, Congress increased the number of immigrants and refugees in America.
Between 1960 and 2010, immigration into the United States increased tremendously and several categories of legal immigrants were established. These groups included refugees, family-based immigrants, diversity immigrants, and employment-based immigrants. The US Department of Homeland Security has a border patrol that prevents illegal entry into America. The Secure Fence Act of 2006 proposed the building of a physical barrier between the US and Mexico to prevent illegal entries into America (Bessette and Pitney 103).
Conclusion
The immigration of individuals into the United States has three phases within which the Congress passed several acts and laws. Immediately after gaining independence, the US required human labor and, therefore, allowed free entry for immigrants into the country. One century after independence, the number of jobs became scarce and the population in cities grew at an alarming rate leading to a new era of laws restricting immigrants into America. There was the abolishment of some acts in the third phase and more categories of legal immigrants proposed. Throughout the history of the US, policies have changed in the bid to regulate the number of immigrants in the country.
Work Cited
Bessette, Joseph M., and John J. Pitney. American Government and Politics: Deliberation, Democracy and Citizenship. Cengage Learning, 2013.
