U.S. Immigration: A Historical Perspective
In the past decade, immigration has reached unprecedented levels, and Americans are divided on whether the current number of immigrants should be decreased or increased.
by Katherine Fennelly
Few subjects in the U.S. are as controversial or have as contentious a history as immigration. Immigration scholars Simon and Lynch1 suggest that Americans view immigration with “rose-colored glasses turned backwards”—positive attitudes toward earlier groups of immigrants and negative ones about those who enter today. Yet the notion that earlier waves of European immigrants were welcomed with open arms is false.At the end of the 19th century, anti-immigrant backlash toward non-Protestant immigrants was vicious.
As historian Donna Gabaccia reminds us, the current outrage against “illegal immigrants” also has historical parallels.
Studying the past reminds us that each restriction of immigration produced its own patterns of illegal entry. These immigration restrictions targeted Chinese laborers after 1882, anarchists after 1902, and Italians after 1924. The illegal immigrants of the past included all three groups—and others, too.2
Moreover, “assimilation” of earlier waves of immigrants wasn’t as rapid or complete until well into the 20th century.3 Although there was tacit agreement that Americans would share the English language, bilingualism was politically protected as one of the rights for which pilgrims had come to America and was considered an advantage for “everyday trading, teaching and spreading the gospel.”4
The Chinese Exclusion Act, passed by Congress in 1882, “forever changed Americans’ relationship to immigration” by endorsing definitions of race and class as criteria to define particular groups as “undesirable aliens,” ineligible for entry or citizenship.5
However, non-Asian immigration remained largely unregulated until 1924, when rancorous debates resulted in the passing of the Johnson-Reed Act—a bill that ended open immigration from Europe by enacting a quota system for the purpose of limiting “undesirable immigrants” from southern and eastern Europe. This act began an era of restriction. It define “native stock” as descendents of the white population of the country when it was founded. It is noteworthy that Mexican immigrants were exempted from both the quota and restrictions on citizenship because the Southwestern states depended on cheap, abundant Mexican laborers.6
Mexican Immigration: Historical Origins
The origin of the contemporary chant “we didn’t cross the border; the border crossed us” can be found in the terms of the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo after the Mexican-American War. The treaty gave the northern half of Mexico to the U.S. and stipulated that all inhabitants in the ceded area who did not announce their intention to remain Mexican citizens or leave the territory in one year would automatically become U.S. citizens. Those who did not became de facto “illegal aliens.”7