American Ambivalence* on Immigration Nativism *Ambivalence: state of having mixed/contradictory ideas about something

Nativism: The Basics - In general terms: Anti-Immigrant Sentiment Wants to decrease immigration to the U. S. in order to keep America ethnically homogenous Became increasingly popular at the end of the 19th century. Why?

Features / Characteristics of Nativism 1) Focused on the “New Immigrants” Those groups who came to the US in large numbers for the 1st time at the end of the 19th century. Came from Latin America, S.E. Europe, Asia Were noticeably different from the “Old Immigrants” Groups who came in large numbers in early/mid 1800s (or earlier) Came from NW Europe Were mostly WASP White Anglo Saxon Protestant Differences: -religion, language, skin color, social customs

Bottom right-men from russian empire Center- ruthenian woman? “East slavic under Austro-Hungarian authority”

Features / Characteristics of Nativism 2) Used Social Darwinism as a justification Society was like nature: the strong would survive and prosper; the weak would struggle and die out Some races were believed to be stronger than others New Immigrants were “beaten men from beaten races” Allowing weak races to enter would be “race suicide” 3) Was Pro-Protestant, anti-Catholic 4) Supported the Melting Pot Idea- immigrants needed to assimilate ASAP 5) Generally becomes more popular during economic downturns

Nativist Methods Prevention Stop immigrants from entering the country Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) The 1st time the US limited immigration Banned Chinese laborers Gentleman’s Agreement with Japan (1907) Japan agreed to not issue visas Literacy Requirements (1917)

Nativist Methods Deterrence Treat them like 2nd class citizens so fewer will choose to come National Level Naturalization Acts of 1790 and 1870- limited naturalized citizenship to those who were white (1790) or of African-descent (1870) (birthright citizenship applied to ALL races) State/Local Level Segregated schools in San Francisco (1906) Excluded from owning property Prohibited from certain jobs Forced to pay special taxes - Women were prohibited from immigrating

E. Europe (Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey) Year Total Entering U.S. Great Britain E. Europe (Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey) Italy 1920 430,001 38,471 3,913 95,145 1921* 805,228 51,142 32,793 222,260 1922 309,556 25,153 12,244 40,319 1923 522,919 45,759 16,082 46,674 1924* 706,896 59,490 13,173 56,246 1925 294,314 27,172 1,566 6,203 1926 304,488 25,528 1,596 8,253

National Origins Act of 1924 One of a series of immigration laws passed in the 1920s Nativists had been asking for such a law for decades; international fears relating to WWI and the Russian Revolution now pushed Congress to take action Limited the total # of immigrants AND established individual quotas for each country Quota was 2% of the number of people from that country already in America (based on the census) If 100,000 people from a certain country were in the U.S., then each year, 2,000 more immigrants from that country could immigrate Used the 1890 census! BEFORE the influx of New Immigrants

The Immigration Act of 1965 Signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement -Abolished the quota system; replaced it with “hemispheric caps” -170,000 for the Eastern Hemisphere -120,000 for the Western -with an annual limit of 20,000 from any nation. Those limits don’t include refugees and/or family members of immigrants already here (“chain migration”) Effects: - total # of immigrants increased 1966-2000- 22.8 million immigrants - type of immigrant changed fewer Europeans, many more Asians, Middle Easterners, and Latinos

Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 A “comprehensive” bill signed by President Reagan intended to deal with the problem of unauthorized immigration -what do with the illegal immigrants already here -how to prevent more from entering 3 Main Provisions gave unauthorized aliens the opportunity to apply + gain legal status if they met certain requirements (Amnesty?) after an applicant was assigned a legal status, he was disqualified from receiving all forms of public welfare assistance for 5 years 2.7 million were granted legal status (Amnesty=the gov’t deciding to not punish those who entered/resided in the country illegally) Created sanctions for employers who knowingly hired an illegal immigrant Put in place 50 % increase in Border Patrol staffing, to prevent more from entering illegally

DREAM Act, proposed 2007 + 2009 Meant to give legal status to those who were brought to the country illegally as kids Would grant legal residence to those who Entered the U. S. before age 16 Graduated high school or earned GED Have no criminal record Have been in the U.S. for 5 continuous years Then, would grant citizenship to those who obtained a 2-year college degree (or higher) and/or served 2 years in the military After Congress blocked this bill, Pres Obama issued several executive orders to start to deal with the problem on his own. After Republicans challenged these actions, several court rulings have put them on pause. Stay tuned…