Immigration Unit PDF

Module: Immigration Part 2 Lecture Concepts ​ Naturalization Law of 1790 ​ Regulated naturalization: made it harder to become a citizen through naturalization ​ Limited access to naturalization to...

Module: Immigration Part 2 Lecture Concepts ​ Naturalization Law of 1790 ​ Regulated naturalization: made it harder to become a citizen through naturalization ​ Limited access to naturalization to “free white person” “of good moral character” who lived in the U.S for at least two years ​ Only white male property owners could become citizens through naturalization (essentially, only Europeans were able to get naturalized) ​ Native Americans, enslaved people, and free African Americans excluded from naturalization (Asians later explicitly excluded) ​ “Aliens ineligible for citizenship” ​ § Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 ​ First major U.S immigration law ​ Geary Act (1892): Required Chinese immigrants to carry a Certificate of Residence. This became the precursor to the green card system ​ If any Chinese American caught without certificate of residence, they were subject to deportation ​ This marked a major shift in immigrations since this was the first time America took steps towards controlling immigration ​ § Fong Yue Ting v. United States (1893) ​ Court case where Asian Americans challenged the Geary Act for violating the 14th amendment (equal rights) ​ The Supreme Court ruled that deportation that occurred without having a certificate is an administrative procedure, not a criminal punishment ​ They also said that deportations are not subject to legal procedures/appeals ​ Repeal of Chinese Exclusion Act (1943) ​ Magnuson Act 1943: Allowed entry to Chinese laborers, but instituted a quota/max (105 entry visas per year) ​ Emergency Quota Act of 1921  ​ Placed a cap on number of immigrants from each country each year (based on number of immigrants from each country already residing in the U.S) ​ Johnson-Reed Act of 1924 ​ Also known as the immigration act of 1924 ​ Quota calculation now based on number of people in the U.S who traced their origins to each country ​ Especially restrictive to southern and eastern Europeans ​ Quota for Italy supported 2% of historical immigration from Italy; quota for Germany supported 350% of historical immigration from Germany ​ Bracero Program (1942-1964) ​ Created in response to labor shortages during WWII ​ Encourage millions of Mexican labors to enter the U.S and promised them decent living arrangements and a minimum age ​ Participants from Mexico were very poor so they believed that this program would make them better off when it just kept them at the bottom of the social working class ​ Operation Wetback ​ Used military-style tactics to remove 1.3 million Mexican immigrants (including U.S citizens and authorized immigrants) from U.S and relocated them far South of the border ​ Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 ​ Created preferences for ​ Family reunification (75% visas) ​ Highly skilled/trained workers (20%) ​ Refugees (5%) ​ Quota now set to 20,000/year for all countries (including Western Hemisphere) ​ Contributed to model minority myth: Affected Asian Americans the most as they moved in and swept up jobs in the United States  ​ Restricted Mexican immigration and helped a population of unauthorized Mexican immigrants ​ Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 ​ Gave opportunity to apply for documented status to some unauthorized immigrants ​ Once granted documented status, excluded from public assistance for 5 years ​ Allowed 3 million immigrants to achieve documented status ​ Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act of 1996 ​ Made it so that more undocumented immigrants would get deported and made rules harsher ​ Forced people to return their country ​ Strengthened U.S. immigration laws, increasing penalties for undocumented immigrants who commit crimes while in the United States or who stay in the U.S. for statutorily defined periods of time. ​ Consequences of Reform ​ Immigrant population significant rose in the 1990s as people stopped leaving ​ Assisting unauthorized entry became a profitable industry ​ Arizona SB 1070 ​ Required documented immigrants to carry identification documents ​ Allowed police to arrest people on suspicion of being unauthorized immigrants ​ Requires confirmation of authorized immigration status before being released from custody ​ 2011: SCOTUS ruled parts of the law are unconstitutional ​ State cannot require documents to be always carried ​ State cannot arrest someone Soley based on suspicion of being undocumented ​ Looking/being Asian cannot be a justifiable reason for one’s suspicion  ​ DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) 2012 ​ Aimed to provide protection from deportation for Dreamers ​ Dream Act has been introduced in Congress several times since 1002 but has never been passed ​ In 2012, Obama bypassed Congress and issued DACA by executive action ​ Must be in high school or complete GED program, no felony or sentencing, and many other reasons needed to be fulfilled before being eligible for DACA ​ Advocate Concerns: ​ Information about Dreamers being recorded in a database (could be used as a weapon by future anti-immigrant administrations) ​ Created by Executive Action (easy to Undo) ​ Denied applicants could be targeted ​ Assimilation ​ Integrating oneself in the surrounding cultures and beliefs so that they could better fit into society ​ Immigration and crime ​ In 2019, 42% of Americans aid immigrants to the U.S make the crime situation worse (only 7% said Immigrants make crime situation better) ​ Studied have found that: ​ Cities on the U.S-Mexico border have among the lowest crime rates ​ Cities with largest increase in immigration have seen the largest decreases in violent rime ​ Urban Neighborhoods with high proportion of immigrants had lower crime rates ​ Sociological Explanations for negative correlation between immigration and crime (as immigration goes up, crime goes down)  ​ High rates of marriage among immigrants ​ The Prescence of professionals in immigrant neighborhoods ​ Informal social controls within immigrant neighborhoods