Illegal Immigration
Illegal Immigration
The United States has charmed immigrants from around the world. For generations, people sought after the protective wings of America as settlers, opportunists, pioneers, explorers, and missionaries legally and illegally. America was said to be the land of freedom, the land of opportunity and as the Declaration of Independence famously wrote a land of “certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” America has become a nation full of culture, a patchwork of people and a promise of hope for many. While so many illegal immigrants reap the benefits on American soil, America continues to strive for a balanced reform.
History
America has always been a nation of immigrants. From the early 1800’s, America was the land of opportunity for many settlers and with plenty of room for growth and immeasurable hopes to live a better life. Asian immigrants were scarce in the early 1800’s. In 1850, Chinese peasants flocked to California during the gold rush. The Chinese were suppressed by poverty and over population. They were like many other immigrants who intended to work hard, make a lot of money and return to their countries rich. These Chinese workers searching for a better life were used as cheap labor to work the gold mines and build the railway. Americans viewed the Chinese’s culture and mannerisms as inferior. American’s believed the Chinese were too different to intergrade into the American culture. With a sudden burst of immigrants and an opposition from the nativists, the government imposed extreme suppression on the Chinese causing many hardships. Congress passed a law in 1882 called the Chinese Exclusion Act. This law ended recruitment of Chinese laborers and made immigrants in the country ineligible for citizenship. (WGBH Educational Foundation, 2010) Citizenship was granted to those of North and Western European descendants by the Act of 1924, completely excluding Asians. The quota system was so
The United States has charmed immigrants from around the world. For generations, people sought after the protective wings of America as settlers, opportunists, pioneers, explorers, and missionaries legally and illegally. America was said to be the land of freedom, the land of opportunity and as the Declaration of Independence famously wrote a land of “certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” America has become a nation full of culture, a patchwork of people and a promise of hope for many. While so many illegal immigrants reap the benefits on American soil, America continues to strive for a balanced reform.
History
America has always been a nation of immigrants. From the early 1800’s, America was the land of opportunity for many settlers and with plenty of room for growth and immeasurable hopes to live a better life. Asian immigrants were scarce in the early 1800’s. In 1850, Chinese peasants flocked to California during the gold rush. The Chinese were suppressed by poverty and over population. They were like many other immigrants who intended to work hard, make a lot of money and return to their countries rich. These Chinese workers searching for a better life were used as cheap labor to work the gold mines and build the railway. Americans viewed the Chinese’s culture and mannerisms as inferior. American’s believed the Chinese were too different to intergrade into the American culture. With a sudden burst of immigrants and an opposition from the nativists, the government imposed extreme suppression on the Chinese causing many hardships. Congress passed a law in 1882 called the Chinese Exclusion Act. This law ended recruitment of Chinese laborers and made immigrants in the country ineligible for citizenship. (WGBH Educational Foundation, 2010) Citizenship was granted to those of North and Western European descendants by the Act of 1924, completely excluding Asians. The quota system was so