Ideas On Immigration And Immigration

1883 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The role of Ellis Island paper

Based on your analysis of ideas about immigration and citizenship across time to what extent do you agree that 1924 was the end of “open borders” in American society, and why? Your answer should identify and analyze what you see as the most important trends in inclusion and exclusion from colonial beginnings to the early 20th century.
“Open borders” refers to a policy of unlimited physical and free immigration, meaning the uncontrolled access of anyone into a country such as the United States of America. Open borders allow people from different countries and nations to enter a country of fairness and equality without rejection based on prior economic status, health, or physical features. A country with “open borders” does not restrict or discriminate against immigrants however is inviting of them. That being said, 1924 was not the end of “open borders” in American Society. The Irish and Italians in the East Coast, Mexican/Tejanos in the South-West Borderlands, and the Chinese in the West Coast all underwent perpetual scrutiny prior to 1924. 1924 was the beginning of the era of criminalization and socially justified discrimination towards immigrants. The Johnson-Reed Immigration Act of 1924 was essential to solidifying the level of difficulty for immigrants to enter the United States of America.
During the 19th century the East Coast saw little restrictions and regulations on the entry of immigrants to the U.S. Opening in 1892, Ellis Island was the first Federal immigration station in the Unite States of America. Ellis Island was home to many European immigrants. People from Ireland, Italy, France, Germany, Russia, etc. all concentrated on Ellis Island with hopes and dreams of making it out. The U.S Bureau of Immigration overl...

... middle of paper ...

...dice that the Chinese encountered as immigrants in America. Although the Chinese resented the fact that they were being discriminated against, they continued to immigrate because they felt that their opportunities in the United States of America were still better than in China. Together they endured poor treatment because they knew they had nothing if they went back home to China. The Chinese resisted such horrible conditions by sticking together as a community and establishing their own businesses and towns such as Chinatown, in San Francisco. After studying the Chinese we can draw the conclusion that many Chinese made the journey to America in search for freedom and for a better life, but instead were detained and treated poorly. Together the Chinese community made their voice heard by challenging laws, starting their own businesses, and becoming self-sufficient.

Show More
Related

  • Dragonwings by Laurence Yep

    1195 Words  | 3 Pages

    Immigrants' lives become very difficult when they move to a new country. They are often discriminated against due to their race and/ or nationality. This problem occurs many times throughout Dragonwings, a book by Laurence Yep. In his book, the Chinese characters who immigrate to America face many challenges in their new lives. They are thought of as inferior, have to endure many hardships, and become lonely due to the fact that they must leave the majority of their families in China. In this book, the immigrants face multiple difficulties and challenges in the new world they know as the Land of the Golden Mountain.

    Read More

  • American Immigrants In The 18th Century

    1440 Words  | 3 Pages

    The 18th Century was a time where most immigrants were of Irish, British, and German descent. From the 1890’s, through the next couple decade, Italians, and Jews would be the cause a new wave of immigration. Between 1900 and 1915, 3 million immigrants would take the journey, and travel to America. They would come through the famed “Ellis

    Read More

  • Research Paper On Ellis Island

    834 Words  | 2 Pages

    As the war ended, Ellis Island stayed a military post for 80 years before it would be picked by the United States to be a federal immigration station. Forming the island Before Ellis Island’s immigration station opened, the immigrants trying to get into the United States had to go through the New York State officials at the Castle Garden station for immigration. So on April 18, 1890, Congress put forward $75,000, which in 2017 would be $1,943,774.48, so anyway they put forward the $75,000 to make America's very first federal immigration station, so the island was set up by digging wells, hauling landfill in, which expanded Ellis Island by 6 acres. Immigration process During the peak days on Ellis Island they passed through up to 5,000 immigrants or more, so the process for an immigrant on Ellis Island was easy if they had all their papers ready and they were in good health, the process could only last 5 hours or less, but if there was anything wrong the process could last longer. The medical inspection took place in the Great Hall on Ellis Island, in the Great Hall, they would give brief physicals, for basic physical alignments.

    Read More

  • Ellis Island Essay

    845 Words  | 2 Pages

    Construction of the new structure on Ellis Island finished on January 1, 1892. Annie Moure was a teenage Irish girl who was the first immigrant to proceed at Ellis Island. After 62 years more than 12 million people were to follow through this port of entry.

    Read More

  • Immigration to America in the Early 1900's

    917 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the eyes of the early American colonists and the founders of the Constitution, the United States was to represent the ideals of acceptance and tolerance to those of all walks of life. When the immigration rush began in the mid-1800's, America proved to be everything but that. The millions of immigrants would soon realize the meaning of hardship and rejection as newcomers, as they attempted to assimilate into American culture. For countless immigrants, the struggle to arrive in America was rivaled only by the struggle to gain acceptance among the existing American population.

    Read More

  • Anti-Chinese Sentiment in 19th Century American Society

    1716 Words  | 4 Pages

    The first Chinese immigrants to arrive in America came in the early 1800s. Chinese sailors visited New York City in the 1830s (“The Chinese Experience”); others came as servants to Europeans (“Chinese Americans”). However, these immigrants were few in number, and usually didn’t even st...

    Read More

  • Chinese Immigrants of the Past and Present

    1398 Words  | 3 Pages

    While modern Chinese immigrants come to the United States seeking jobs as did their predecessors, new motivations have drawn families to the country. In the mid-1800s large numbers of Chinese people began to arrive in America. These immigrants were driven from their homeland by the opium wars, British colonization, peasant rebellion, floods, and ...

    Read More

  • Examples Of Transnationalism In Dreaming Of Gold Dreaming Of Home

    859 Words  | 2 Pages

    The book itself is very informative and uses a lot of examples such as stories and newspapers. Hsu discusses how Chinese immigrants, despite being in America, always kept constant connections with their families back home. She mentioned that the point of their migration is too come over here and make some money in order to send it back home so that their families can live little better. By doing so they managed to keep Taishan economically successful. One thing that she points out, that can be interpreted as one of the true messages of the book, is that despite making more money here in America the Chinese immigrants kept loyal to their families back home and that the people in America were only here to help support their families. Hsu likes to point out the hard effort these people would go through just to ensure the fact that they would be able to see their families again. A perfect example given in the book that shows the lengths Chinese people went through just to en...

    Read More

  • Ellis Island

    1702 Words  | 4 Pages

    Immigration defined means the act of coming to a foreign country to live(Lowell, 2006). Ellis Island was responsible for millions of people entering the U.S. and during this time the immigration station was carrying the load being accountable for approxametly 90% of immigrants entering the United States(Fairchild, 1996). Before Ellis Island became an immigration depot, then an immigration station the individual states of America handled immigration. On the first day of Ellis Island becoming an immigration station 700 individuals, mostly from northwest Europe, passed through. The first official immigrant being Annie Moore, a young 14 year old girl traveling with her two younger brothers from County Cork, Ireland(Chabotte,2009). For being the first immigrant to pass through the gates she was given a ten dollar gold piece which would help her journey into a foreign country. Along with Annie Moore the lack of money would be a major problem for future immigrants taking the same journey.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Immigration In America

    1159 Words  | 3 Pages

    The United States experienced major waves of immigration during the colonial era, the first part of the 19th century and from the 1880s to 1920. Many people immigrated to America for

    Read More

  • The Problem with Immgration to the United States

    1291 Words  | 3 Pages

    The first move stopping immigration decided by Congress was a law in 1862 restricting American vessels to transport Chinese immigrants to the U.S. The Alien Contract Labor Laws of 1885, 1887, 1888, and 1891 restricted the immigration to the U.S. of people entering the country to work under contracts made before their arrival. Alien skilled laborers, under these laws, were allowed to enter the U.S. to work in new industries. By this time anti-immigrant felling rose with the flood of immigrants and in this period the anti-Catholic, anti-foreign political party the Know-Nothings, was already born. The problems and issues are still much the same today, as they were 150 years ago, but as the numbers and facts show the immigration problem is growing worse and worse.

    Read More

  • Discrimination In Girl In Translation By Jean Kwok

    1120 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the history of the United States of America, immigration has always been involving racial discrimination, especially towards the Chinese people. From the time when Gold Rush started in the West Coast, the Chinese immigrants were experiencing both physical and verbal offenses from Americans. As the Jean Kwok writes in the book Girl In Translation, the narrator Kimberly and other main characters living as Chinese immigrants indeed profoundly experience all kinds of inconspicuous discrimination in both of their educational path and their careers even though the political policies that directly discriminated the Chinese people have already been alleviated.

    Read More

  • Immigration Sociology Essay

    1052 Words  | 3 Pages

    Immigration has been a topic that has caused multiple discussions on why people migrate from one country to another, also how it affects both the migraters and the lands they go. Immigration is the movement from one location to another to live there permanently. This topic has been usually been associated with sociology to better explain how it affects people, cultures and societies. Sociology has three forms of thinking that are used to describe and analyze this topic. There are three forms of thinking that are used to tell and describe immigration to society; structural functionalist, symbolic interactionist, and conflict theory. Each of these theories uses different forms of thinking and rationality to describe and explain socio topics.

    Read More

  • Immigration

    6920 Words  | 14 Pages

    Kalapodas 8 Dec. 1999 History 101 Dr. Tassinari Immigration: The New American Paul Kalapodas 8 Dec. 1999 Immigration For many, immigration to the United States during the late 19th to early 20th century would be a new beginning to a prosperous life. However there were many acts and laws past to limit the influx of immigrants, do to prejudice, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act. Later on into the 20th century there would be laws repealing the older immigration laws and acts making it possible for many more foreigners to immigrate to the United States. Even with the new acts and laws that banned the older ones, no one can just walk right in and become a citizen. One must go through several examinations and tests before he or she can earn their citizenship. The Immigration Act of March 3, 1891 was the first comprehensive law for national control of immigration. It established the Bureau of Immigration under the Treasury Department to administer all immigration laws (except the Chinese Exclusion Act). This Immigration Act also added to the inadmissible classes. The people in these classes were inadmissible to enter into the United States. The people in these classes were, those suffering from a contagious disease, and persons convicted of certain crimes. The Immigration Act of March 3, 1903 and The Immigration Act of February 20, 1907 added further categories to the inadmissible list. Immigrants were screened for their political beliefs. Immigrants who were believed to be anarchists or those who advocated the overthrow of government by force or the assassination of a public officer were deported. This act was made mainly do to the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901. On February 5, 1917 another immigration act was made. This Act codified all previous exclusion provisions and added the exclusion of illiterate aliens form entering into the United States. It also created a "barred zone"(Asia-Pacific triangle), whose natives were also inadmissible. This Act made Mexicans inadmissible. It insisted that all aliens pay a head tax of $8 dollars. However, because of the high demand for labor in the southwest, months later congress let Mexican workers (braceros) to stay in the U.S. under supervision of state government for six month periods. A series of statutes were made in 1917,1918, and 1920. The sought to define more clearly which al...

    Read More

  • Understanding Immigration: Stratification and Prejudice in USA

    840 Words  | 2 Pages

    Though the United States is home to many immigrants, controversy surrounds the issue of immigrants in the United States. The United States in a melting pot of various backgrounds and cultures, yet it is hard for all to merge into acceptance of one another. The first chapter of Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and class covers stratification, prejudice and discrimination, and inequality.

    Read More

More about Ideas On Immigration And Immigration

Open Document