Transcript Bill of Rights - Paradise High School

 “Few of their children in the country learn English ...
The signs in our streets have inscriptions in both
languages ... Unless the stream of their importation
could be turned they will soon so outnumber us that
all the advantages we have will not be able to preserve
our language, and even our government will become
precarious.”
-Benjamin Franklin, Founding Father, on German
immigration to Pennsylvania, 1750s
 What are your feelings about immigration and
immigrants?
S ee handout
 Reasons for immigration to
U.S.:
 Post Industrialization era
led to overcrowding in
many European countries.
 Mechanization Less jobs
 80% came from Europe
1840-1920 37,000,000
came to U.S.
1. Overcrowding Europe (Industrialization)
2. Natural Disasters
3. Economic opportunity $$$$
4. Political unrest in homeland (Political
Refugee)/Wars
5. Religious Persecution
6. Romance & Adventure
 Cheap land (Oklahoma
Giveaway)
 Myths/legends of U.S.
 Fast Growth in Cities
 Religious Tolerance
 Rules for harmony.
 Economic Opportunity
 Last Hope
Ellis Island, New York City (1892-1954) 12 million immigrants
would come through here. 70% of all European immigrants
passed through Ellis Island. Approximately 3% were rejected.
 In 1905 an extra $20 would buy you the status of
cabin class. That would exempt you from being
processed in America.
 3rd class passengers quickly learned that money
caused you to be treated differently in America.
 “Isn’t it strange that we are coming to a country where there is
equality, but not quite so for the poor newly arriving immigrant.”
Quote from 3rd class passenger
 The inspection
was often the
most anxious
part of the
whole trip as
this is where
you found out
if you were
accepted or
rejected
 Long Lines –2 minutes
per inspection, marked
with chalk and separated
by the ailment they were
suspected to have.
 32 questions
 Lines divided into
languages the immigrants
spoke.
 Names were often
changed as the spelling
was a struggle
 English/German/Irish
 W.A.S.P = White Anglo
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Saxon Protestant
Owner’s/Bosses
Superior attitude
“Know Nothing party”
designed to discriminate
against Roman Catholic
immigrants.
Believed they were a
superior race.
 Italians, Slavs, Greeks
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and Jews.
Different in beliefs and
ideals.
Long-stem hatred from
ancestry in Europe.
Different beliefs and
customs.
Competition for work
also fueled the
resentment.
 “ The immigrants are
an invasion of
venomous reptiles…
long haired, wild eyed,
bad smelling , reckless
foreign wretches, who
never did a day’s work
in their lives”
 Literacy Tests
 Low wages, unsafe
conditions, not paid
for mistakes.
 No Overtime, worked
Sundays.
 Uneducated and had
no way out.
 No civil rights.
 Melting Pot(Old):
 Assimilate into
“American” culture.
 English Language must
be spoken and
American traditions
observed.
 Salad Bowl (New):
 Keep own native culture.
 Customs and traditions
are kept alive and
nurtured.
 Native language spoken
 Creation of political
machines.
 Ward Bosses
 Supplied money, jobs,
advice and favors =
votes.
 City councils
dominated by Bosses
Should the United
States allow
immigrants into
the country?
If you answered yes
above, under what
conditions?
 First low income housing
 Inadequate sanitation and
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ventilation
Overcrowded, crime filled,
and disease infested
By 1900 4 out of 5 residents
of New York City were
immigrants or children of
immigrants.
“1,231 people in a 120 room
apartment”.
New York City had twice as
many Irish as Dublin, More
Italians than Naples, more
Germans than Hamburg.
 Established ethnic
neighborhoods: “little
Italy, Chinatown”
 New York City built of
Immigrants. Still today a
city of diversity.
 People felt more
comfortable with people
of similar values and
customs. This also made
it easier for stereotypes to
exist.
 Took jobs nobody
else wanted and for
a fraction of the
pay; textiles mills,
steel mills,
stockyards, and coal
mines.
 Average pay 10 cents
per hour 55 hours
a week.
 Between 1880 –1900
35,000 people were
killed on the job.
 Many escaping the same
problems facing the
European immigrants,
famine, overpopulation,
civil warfare but also
romance of “Gold”.
 1877 17% of CA’s
population was Chinese.
 1882 Chinese Exclusion
Act forbade Chinese to
immigrate.
1740 naturalization act for America required residence for seven years, sworn
loyalty to the Crown, evidence of Christianity; Catholics were excluded from
applying.
1774 immigration to the colonies prohibited
1790 naturalization restricted to "free white persons." Required two-years
residency.
1795 residency extended to five years
1798 Alien and Sedition Acts. Resident aliens suspected of being subversives could
be expelled. Residency extended to fourteen years.
1802 reinstated five-year waiting period
1808 federal government made slave trade illegal
1819 Steerage Act regulated conditions on ships entering American ports
1862 American vessels forbidden to transport Chinese immigrants to the U.S.
1868 Passage of the Fourteenth Amendment, "All persons born or naturalized in
the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United
States and of the State wherein they reside."
 1875 Page Law. Prohibited transporting convicts and prostitutes to America. Strict
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interpretation barred Chinese wives as well as prostitutes.
1882 Chinese Exclusion Act (repeal 1943); not even for family reunification. Ten year
exclusion period for Chinese laborers.
1882 general immigration act barred paupers, criminals, insane; levied a tax on each
immigrant arriving by vessel at a U.S. port
1884 all Chinese travelers carry official documents showing profession and destination
1885 87,88,91 Alien Contract Labor Laws prohibit people from entering to work under
contracts. 1888 no reentry for Chinese laborer or former resident without wife, children,
parents, or property
valued over $1000 in the U.S.
1891 Immigration Act--medical inspection of immigrants and exclusion of polygamists,
those suffering from a dangerous disease, or convicted of moral turpitude.
1892 Chinese Exclusion Act extended for another ten years; Chinese laborers in U.S.
required to
have certificate of residence
1902 Chinese Exclusion Act extended indefinitely
1903 Immigration Act barred anarchists and those who believe in the overthrow by force
or violence of the government.
 1908 unwritten diplomatic agreement, Japan would not issue passports to
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Japanese laborers wishing to come to the U.S. There would also be no
immigration from Japan's protectorate in Korea
1917 Immigration Act. Set literacy test for reading English "or some other
language or dialect, including Hebrew or Yiddish." Created Asiatic Barred Zone
which excluded immigrants from India, Indochina, the East Indies, Polynesia,
parts of Russia, Arabia, and Afghanistan. Kept out anyone likely to become a
public charge.
1918 Anti-Anarchist Act excluded subversive aliens
1920 Anti-Anarchist Act--deportation of those with materials advocating
violent overthrow of government
1921 National Origins Act-separate quotas for people from each nation based on
3% of the total foreign-born population in the U.S. in 1910. Excluded from quota
tourists, diplomats, minor children of citizens, and Asians already excluded.
There was no restriction on those from the Americas.
1924 Amendments to National Origins Act--No persons ineligible for
citizenship (including Japanese) were allowed to enter. Quotas were revised
downward to 2% of the foreign-born population. Still no restriction on the
Americas. Fully implemented in 1929, 82% of the visas went to northern and
western Europe, 16% southern and eastern Europe, and 2% to the rest of the
world. Persons ineligible to become citizens were barred.
 1929 became possible for illegal entrants in the U.S. since
 1921 to legalize their status
 1940 Alien Registration Act--unlawful to advocate overthrow of the U.S.; deport
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aliens who refuse to register and be fingerprinted.
1941 refuse visas to aliens who would endanger public safety
1943 repeal of Chinese Exclusion Act; Chinese eligible for naturalization for first
time.
1943 Bracero Program--temporary guest worker program allowed workers from
Mexico in fields
and railways, those from British Honduras, Barbados, and Jamaica in factories.
1945 War Brides Act allowed veterans to bring spouses and children above the
quota numbers.
1946 allowed entry of those engaged to veterans; immigration quotas for India
and the Philippines;
Chinese wives of American citizens not part of quota
1948 Displaced Persons Act--preference to Baltic states while excluding more
than 90 percent of displaced Jews; those admitted to be deducted from future
quotas
1950 eliminated racial impediment to American citizenship for those from
Guam; all born there since 1899 became U.S. citizens
1950 Internal Security Act--kept out present or past members of a Communist
 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act/McCarren-Walter Act
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repealed and codified earlier laws; removed all remaining racial
prohibitions, but retained quotas; felony to bring in illegal aliens;
first 50% of quota to those with skills considered valuable to
the'U.S., rest to relatives of citizens and residents.
1953 Refugee Relief Act-214,000 visas to victims of war and
disaster, not counted against individual quotas
1958 permanent immigrant status for 30,000 Hungarian refugees
1962 Migration and Refugee Assistance Act--facilitated
resettlement of Cubans and other international refugees
1965 Immigration Reform Act--the amendments abolished quotas,
also eliminated restrictions on Asians. Stressed family
reunification. Allowed 120,000 immigrants from the Western
Hemisphere, 170,000 from the rest of world; outside the Americas
no country was to exceed 20,000. A welcome for extended families
from Latin America and Asia.
1966 Cuban Refugees Act established procedures for Cuban
parolees to become permanent legal residents.
 1973 ended preference for the Western Hemisphere; no country to exceed 20,000 at a
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time when 62,000 were coming from Mexico each year.
1976 Immigration Act. Immigration limited to 20,000 for each country in the Americas
1977 Indochinese Refugee Act allowed Indochinese refugees to become permanent
resident aliens, rather than "parolees" under the Attorney General's emergency parole
authority.
1980 Refugee Act. Routine admission for 50,000 refugees annually. The number could be
raised in consultation with Congress. Not just those fleeing communism or the Middle
East, but anyone who fled because of a well-founded fear of persecution due to race,
religion, nationality, political opinion, or social group membership--ifthey were deemed
of "special humanitarian concern to the United States."
1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act gave legal status to those in the U.S. since
January 1, 1982, making them eligible for eventual citizenship. Also, anyone who worked
in "perishable agriculture" for ninety days prior to May 1986 qualified for legalization.
The law prohibited employers from hiring illegal aliens. Authorized up to 5,000
supplemental visas annually for two years for countries from which immigration had
dropped since 1965. Set aside 10,000 visas for "adversely affected" countries; 36 countries
were invited to participate in a lottery.
 1990 Immigration Act amended the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952,
which remains the basic law. The new law raised the total number of
numerically limited immigrants entering the U.S. annually in FY 1992-94 to
700,000 (excluding refugees whose admission numbers are announced annually
and some others not subject to limitation). The visas were distributed as
follows: 465,000 for family immigrants; 55,000 for the spouses and children of
aliens legalized under IRCA [Immigration and Control Act of 1986]; 140,000 for
employment- based immigrants; 40,000 for nationals from "adversely affected"
countries. Beginning in FY 1995 the number dropped from 700,000 to 675,000.
These visas were distributed as follows: 480,000 for family immigrants; 140,000
for employment-based immigrants; 55,000 for "diversity immigrants." Under
the latter category, the allotment of FY 1995 visa numbers for each region was as
follows: Africa 20,200; Asia 6,837; Europe 24,549; North America (Bahamas) 8;
South, Central, and Caribbean America 2,589; and Oceania 817.
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 1996. Strengthened border patrols, restricted judicial authority to review
deportation cases, set greater penalties for the smuggling of immigrants and
voting by noncitizens. 1997. Resident aliens with felony convictions may be
deported.
1997. Refugees from civil wars in Central America exempted from deportation
rules; illegal immigrants on track to become legal residents are able to apply for
visas in the U.S. without going home
 Listen to the
news story and
take notes.
 What do you
hear in the story
that is similar to
what you already
know about the
immigrant
experience?
 What is
different?
 The first immigration laws for
America were fashioned under
the British crown in 1740, but
laws have changed and evolved
almost continuously since.
 Read your page of laws and
summarize different elements of
the laws. . .
1.
Excluded Chinese, made
people wait 5 yrs. for
citizenship, had to be
Christian, etc. (prepare to
share).
 Write an immigration
law that is appropriate
for today.
1. Who will it apply to?
2. What will be the
requirements for
immigration, services, or
citizenship?
3. How will you implement
the law or enforce it?
 Items to consider from
yesterday:
Race (Chinese, Japanese, name it)
Religion (Catholics, Jews)
Politics (communists, anarchist)
Residency (time) requirements
Education Requirements
Job Requirements (skills or jobs)
Language requirements
Quotas (numbers, per cents)
Regional Exceptions (Americas)
Refugees (humanitarian concerns)