IMMIGRATION POLICIES
How have the Immigration Policies changed throughout the past century?
By: Ernesto Andrade
During the past century, there have been many changes to immigration policies that have been established. To better understand the topic, “immigration policies are the laws that are passed by the U.S. legislative branch to regulate immigrants who originate from different countries and seek temporarily or permanent residence in the U.S. for education, employment or settle and reside in U.S.”, similarly described by master editor Connolly, (2015, editor’s contribution). Immigration laws and policies can be traced back as far as the time of U.S. Civil War. Before the start of the 20th century in the “Supreme Court officially established that immigration regulation would be overseen by the federal government”, as stated by (cis.org, Historical Overview of Immigration Policy) Article. This was ruled by the Supreme Court through the case of (Henderson v. Mayor of New York). After 1875, “A series of restrictions on immigration were enacted”.
In the beginning of the 1900s through the 1920s, a movement known as the “Great Wave” would bring about the immigration of approximately 24 million immigrants to U.S., this is the start of massive amount of people from across the world migrating to the U.S., which leads to the Federal government passing laws and policies through the Judicial branch, to implement, help regulate and control the people who migrated through U.S. borders. The following are bills and laws that have been passed by the federal government. On June 29, 1906, the (Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization Act), this expands and amends the previously established Act by congress. This change mainly focuses on the “naturalization of aliens” and was thoroughly examined by the bureau of Immigration, through this process, immigrants had the opportunity to be granted citizenship as long as they renounced any allegiance to their country of origin. In 1907 U.S. Congress passed the (Expatriation Act), which revoked citizenship from women who married foreigners, this also included expatriation of citizen of the United States who pledge allegiance or became a citizen of another country and also lived for an extended period of time in a foreign country for more than 5 years. Other significant changes throughout the 20th century before the border patrol was established, the U.S. government approved and authorized the placement of “mounted inspectors” across the U.S. border. Since the rise of immigration after the Great Wave, regulations and policies passed by U.S. congress became strict, the mounted inspectors would secure the U.S. borders to avoid any illegal immigrants from crossing and seeking residence in the United states, these events took place specifically from 1915-1916. During the year of 1917, the U.S. established the (Immigration Act of 1917), this was to deny entry to immigrants attempting to migrate specifically from Asia and people form the Pacific Islands. This was to help protect the “Land of Opportunity” from “people with mental health conditions, insanity, professional beggars, deformity, disease, anarchists, etc.”, as stated by author’s (Guskin, J. and Wilson, D. L./ The politics of immigration, 2007). Eventually in 1924 the U.S. Border Patrol was established through the (Labor Appropriation Act of 1924). One of the author’s D’ Vera Cohn states: “Early legislation tended to impose limits and favored Europeans” After 1965, the United States begins to expand and welcome immigrants from around the world, but the federal government continues to take action and illegal aliens and terrorism. In recent years, through immigration policies and Acts controlling the flow of immigration, it has helped shape the country and diversify it. The U.S. border patrol has grown from the time of the “mounted inspectors” and helps protect the border from international threats. A major law was passed in 1986, the (Immigration Reform and Control Act). This immigration policy help to grant people of Latin American origin who illegally migrated in the U.S. to become legalized mainly to insure employers and companies to meet criteria of legal employment and hiring that did not include illegal immigrants. The United States was open to new diversities but were weary of terrorism and any harm to the economy and the stock markets. One of the biggest impacts in U.S. History was the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. Military and Immigration border patrol was significantly expanded and reinforced to help protect the border’s and prevent a similar terrorist attack from taking place on U.S. soil. On May 2002, one of the most significant and important immigration policies were established for the countries security, the (Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act was passed by Congress and signed by George W. Bush. The outcome was enforced security, especially with visas or green cards granted to immigrants, the following years would weight on the immigration population. When president Barrack Obama took office, he dedicated his time to change and reform many of the immigration policies and laws from the past century. In 2012 (DACA, also known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), was established. By passing this immigration policy, president Obama prevent the deportation of illegal immigrants who migrated to the U.S. when they were children, this Act helped to protect them, as mentioned by (Julia Preston, and John H. Crushman Jr. from New York Times, “Obama to permit young migrants to remain in U.S.”). In 2014, (Reuters Biography, 2014, November 21) states that president Obama attempted to amended and expand DACA through U.S. Congress, (DAPA, which stands for Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents), but this was blocked by 26 states stating it is unconstitutional, if this immigration policy would have been established, it would have prevented deportation of illegal immigrants who’s children were born in U.S. Immigration Policies took a major turn after President Donald Trump took office, in January 25, 2017, “he signed two executive orders that would increase border patrol and begin plans to build a border wall”. Immigration policies have become very strict, under the appointment of president Donald Trump, on September 5th, 2017, through his administration, he was able to set and expiration date and terminate DACA, taking away the protection illegal immigrants had under president Obama. “The U.S. Supreme court ruled on February 27th, 2018 that by law illegal immigrants can be detained indefinitely before being deported to original country.” What will the immigration polices lead to during the 21st century?
References:
Historical overview of immigration policy. (n.d.) Center of Immigration Studies. Retrieved from https://cis.org/Historical-Overview-Immigration-Policy
Cohn, D ’Vera (2015, September 30). How U.S. immigration laws and rules have changed through history. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/09/30/how-u-s-immigration-laws-and-rules-have-changed-through-history/
Guskin, J. and Wilson, D. L. (2007). The politics of immigration. History of Legal and Illegal Immigration to the United States/ Preston, J., Cushman Jr., J. H. (2012, June 15). Obama to Permit Young Migrants to Remain in U.S. Retrieved from https://immigration.procon.org/view.timeline.php?timelineID=000023
Gonzalez-Barrera, A., Krogstad, J. M. (2018, February 26). Key facts about U.S. immigration policies and proposed changes. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/02/26/key-facts-about-u-s-immigration-policies-and-proposed-changes/
Connolly, M. (2015, April 8). Immigration Policy. Definition. Retrieved from https://www.definitions.net/definition/Immigration+policy
My Voice:
Immigration policies have gone through many changes and phases through history, most of these changes took place during the 20th century. From my point of view there were way too many immigration policies that were established and passed by congress, some of them that were beneficial to the United States, but inhuman and unfair to immigrants attempting to pursue a better life. When president Obama took office, I believe that his main focus was to show people around the world that the United States is still the “land of opportunity” and that people who are in pursue of a better life deserve to live the “American Dream”. There have been some downfalls that have affected immigrants “legal and illegal” in the U.S., one of them being terrorist attacks like 9/11/2001. Now that president Donald Trump has taken office and has been making extensive changes to immigration policies that were previously in place protecting immigrants, we can only wait and see what the outcome will be in the coming years.
My Voice- Alandra Rodriguez
Seeing these harsh regulations makes me feel as though our nation is not doing enough to look at these individuals as human. I understand that there are many incoming individuals, however it is essential to know their stories. We are a nation full of opportunities, and preventing others from their chance at freedom does not feel right. These individuals deserve better treatment.
My voice-Juan Bezanilla
Ever since immigration was a thing, the United States kept looking for ways to keep immigrants out. All these policies that our current president and leaders before us enacted was a slap in the face of people who wanted better lives. Over time, people look up to the United States as a place of safe haven and shelter, but with these policies, it seems that we are drifting further away.
My Voice- Emily Blanco
Immigration has been an issue that has made Congress work on different solutions to the problem without any effective results. As if we should all not be supporting and help others to have the opportunity to live a better life. We should all be united and fight for equal rights.