The Impact Of The Chinese Exclusion Act And The Immigration Act

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The United States is a nation that originated from immigrants. Many people have viewed the United States as a land of hope and freedom; but, it was exclusive and granted those rights to particular people. In the past, Congress had passed immigration policies that were restrictive because they excluded certain races and ethnicities while permitting others entrance to the United States. The Chinese Exclusion Acts and the Immigration Act of 1924 are two examples that restricted specific types of people from entering the United States. These two acts along with the Bracero Program and Immigration Act of 1965 helped to mold and shape the United States immigration policy today. In 1882, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act. This act prohibited …show more content…

In “An Architecture of Race in American Immigration Law,” Ngai explained that the act defined the world by country, nationality, and by race, distinguishing between white people from white countries and so-called colored races. Immigration policies on Mexican immigrants were also strictly enforced. Ngai stated. “In 1929, the United States consuls in Mexico began more strictly to enforce existing provisions of the immigration laws - the ban on contracting laborers, the literacy test, and the provision to exclude any person who may commit crime to refuse visas to all Mexican laborers save those with prior residence in the United States” (Ngai, pg. 90). The term “illegal” became a negative racial word not just for Mexican immigrants, but also for Mexican Americans. Later, the restrictive policy created illegal immigration problems that would become the center of the Mexican race …show more content…

The Bracero program was to solve the problem of Mexican illegal immigrants coming to the United States; however, the Braceros themselves and Mexican Americans viewed this negatively. After the Chualar accident in 1963, many people, especially Mexican-Americans, became outraged at this incident because the United States exploited the Braceros as mere guest workers in the United States. The Bracero Program simultaneously exploited Mexican laborers and displaced U.S. workers in need of agricultural jobs. The jobs they had were backbreaking work. They had to labor for long hours with low wages and many suffered physically and mentally from low-quality food, segregated housings, lack of water and rest, and terrible housing conditions. Flores explains in “A Town Full of Dead Mexicans” that Mexican-American activists and civil rights organizations opposed the Bracero Program because Mexican Americans still endured discrimination in their daily lives, and the Braceros threatened their livelihood such as taking jobs away from them and their social citizenship and acceptance in the United States (pg. 143). The United States praised the Bracero Program as the solution to unregulated Mexican immigration to the

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