Chapter 15.2 Diversity and Equal Protection for Immigrants Fact: – Your ancestors immigrated to the U.S. from another country. – Question: How did they become an American citizen?

Unrestricted Immigration ’s – No restrictions as to who could come to our country. Why? – We needed a larger population of workers! Thus, the birth of the American dream… – Freedom – A decent job – Land!

End of the 1800’s By 1890 – Immigrants made up over 15% of our population! Most became citizens of the United States through naturalization – Legal process by which immigrants become citizens.

Process of Naturalization 1.Move to the United States and live here for 5 years. 2.After 5 years, file form for naturalization. 3.Government examines the forms to make sure immigrant is: – 18 yrs old or older – A good citizen who believes in the Constitution. – Must pass a civil service test in English. 4.Final Hearing – The immigrant swears an oath of allegiance to the U.S. Constitution.

Can you lose your citizenship? YES! – Two ways: Denaturalization – Loss of citizenship due to giving false information on citizenship application. » Lying about age » Lying about prior legal offenses Expatriation – Person voluntarily gives up citizenship to become a citizen of another country.

Beginning of Immigration Restrictions 1882 – Congress imposed a taxes on new immigrants Also turned away – Criminals – Homeless people – People with mental or physical disabilities Plus, immigration from China is banned!!! – Why? » Chinese workers were taking all of the jobs in California!

Immigration Restrictions..cont – Congress passes law to restrict number of Japanese immigrants to America. Why? – They were taking jobs in California now that Chinese couldn’t come. 1920’s – After WWI, Europe was destroyed Congress passes laws to restrict number of immigrants that could come from anywhere but Europe! – Why? » We were okay with Europeans coming to America to work, so let them come! – Who couldn’t come? » Asians, Africans, and Mexicans!

Immigration after 1940’s WWII is over, Europe is destroyed….again. – America eases their immigration restrictions to help people who have no homes. This includes: – Most of Europe – Japanese (we dropped 2 atomic bombs on them, remember?) – From 1945 to ,000 immigrants allowed in America per year. – 120,000 from Western Hemisphere (Asia and India) – 170,000 from Eastern Hemisphere (Europe and Africa)

Latin American Immigration Began during 1970’s – Most of Latin America was having Civil Wars Huge issues with drugs Governments were corrupt – Over 50% of all immigrants into America from 1970 to today are from Latin America. Mexico being the biggest contributor.

Immigration Since 1990 Immigration Act of 1990 – Set new quota for immigration at 675,000 per year. That means over 337,500 are from Mexico. – Those are the ones that we know for sure! – What about the ones who are sneaking into the country? » Estimated that 4,000,000 Mexicans are living in America illegally today.

Racial/Ethnic Population in America, 2000

So, what do we do? Deportation – Forcibly return any illegal aliens to their original countries. One catch…. – Congress can offer amnesty A pardon that allows illegal immigrants to stay in the United States – They must apply for citizenship within 3 years. – Why would we do this?

A Nation of Diversity Immigration has led to America becoming a ‘melting pot’ – Benefits of diversity New cultures New ideas New music and traditions – Challenges of Diversity Prejudice – Opinions about others not based on fact, but feelings Discrimination – Practice of treating people differently due to prejudice.