Immigrant Territory:

Why America needs Immigration

Zenon Yanez

U.S History Honors

Mr. Mecca
November 1, 2015

So many times the phrase "melting pot" is used to define the United States of
America. It is a nation built on principles such as freedom of speech, freedom of
religion, and other rudimentary human rights. These principles, though they may
have been created from European men labeled as liberals, ultimately captured
supporters from all over the world. Quickly, America was a mixture of individuals
with different ethnic backgrounds, faiths, and ethos all working together for the
"American Dream."

With the country's enormous natural resources, plenty of land, and boundless
opportunities, there appeared to be more than adequate room for everyone. The
gates were open to any that desired to enter. However, as the years advanced,
America started to become less like a frontier and began to settle down. Not long
after the United States found a fairly stable economy and government, the issue of
confining immigration arose. Numerous American citizens, even immigrants
themselves, started to see newcomers as a problem. They feared for the stability of
the economy, of the spreading of ailments, and of foreign principles disrupting
American ethics were among some of the concerns. Biases also developed as a
consequence of legal citizens seeing themselves as better than the typical
immigrant. Fortunately, these uncertainties did not grow into anything more
significant than minor regulations until the start of the twentieth century. Harsh laws
were soon put into commission, some more severe than others, in an effort to halt
or at least slow the amount of immigrants coming to America. Even nowadays,
refugees and immigrants are put through huge hassles, some never making it past
the legal blockades. There is a severe problem with these laws, however. From the
start, the United States has been a sign of liberty and a dream of hope for any

person wishing to be free. These restrictions are wrong in that they appear to
convey the message that some people do not merit the gift of freedom. Immigration
laws are not just confining, they are a denial and a danger to everything that makes
the United States what it is now.

From the time that America started its settlement to the end of the
nineteenth century, limits on immigration were uncommon or nonexistent. People
came to the new nation without running into any hitches, apart from those that
existed for the benefit of all the occupants. These mildly enforced laws were those
that stopped the admission of "unfit applicants such as lunatics, polygamists,
anarchists, the diseased, and persons likely to become a public charge" 1.

Then, the British controlled states became a nation of its own, with its own
constitution and government. This triggered more immigrants to turn to the new
nation, leaving behind their native soils and cultures to escape cruelty and
oppression. The United States was soon described as a place where the "individuals
of all nations are melted into a new race of men, whose labors and posterity will one
day cause great changes in the world" 2.

However, it was this transformation from a governed territory to a new

country that started a change in the attitudes of America's people. Having fought
and won their new freedom, the citizens of the United States became proud. Calling
themselves natives, they started to look down on the settlers and cry out against

the "outcasts" who were occupying their land. Benjamin Franklin, one of the
founding fathers, was amid those who developed anti-immigrant state of mind. He
felt that even though immigrants would benefit the countrys growth, they would
ultimately "eat the natives out"3. The Americans' anti-immigrant conduct toward
strangers was a sign of their ignorance. Every last person in the United States, from
the American Indians to the current day citizen was or is either a settler or the
descendent of settlers. Subsequently, it seems absurd for Americans to be against
immigration since its the very thing that made them what they are now.
Unfortunately, most people did not see it that way. Migrants soon came to be
seen as the ignorant discards of their nations of origin, sent to the United States to
cause distress. Certain ethnic groups, generally non-whites, were mainly given
these stereotypes. This is where ethnic and social biases began to develop, along
with a stronger longing to regulate the flow of immigrants. In 1882, the first
exclusion laws were passed, designed to pick out not only the vile and the unlawful,
but also to prevent entities from specific countries free passage. From that point on,
the laws became increasingly biased. Chinese, Irish, and other Asian ethnic groups
were amongst the ones left without entry into the United States of America, along
with anyone who was seen as amoral, ignorant, or poverty stricken. An instance of
the racist views that were held by some Americans is a statement made in the early
1900's by Tveitmoe, the chief of the Asiatic Exclusion League. Talking of Asians and
other non-white races he stated, "The brown and yellow races are coming like a
swarm of maggots, worming and burrowing and eating the substance out of the
land"4. The exclusion laws had some results, but in 1907, the United States had the
largest arrival of immigrants ever. They originated not only from Europe, but also
from many different nations that were regarded by Americans as less than flavorful.

Some American citizens began to feel defenseless by the company of people who
could not only speak English, but knew nothing about the new nation they had
arrived in except for that it offered sanctuary from the difficulties of their own
nations. Americans fought back by passing laws that required mandatory literacy
tests, interrogations concerning political or spiritual opinions, and an extended list
of visa approval necessities. Racial profiling went even further in the middle of the
twentieth century, with acts like the McCarran Act. This article made it legal to stop
entire races of people from gaining entry into the United States. Fortunately, powers
such as the Civil Rights Movement soon abolished laws based on race. However,
government limitations and deportations remain strong today. One thing that antiimmigration Americans seem to oversee is that these limitations pose an
instantaneous threat to the "American way of life"; the very thing that they are
trying to save. Any time that government authority is permitted to expand into
more areas than it has to, it can very well mean the degradation or destruction of
liberty5. Before crying, "Save the American way", Americans should reminisce that it
was the unrestricted combination of beliefs and people that created that way.

Simply limiting free entree into America's borders based on biases is not the
only crime made by the United States government. Often, immigration laws were
either corrected or loosened by the government whenever it suited their own
purposes. Take for example the slave trade. Thousands of Africans were brought into
the United States, but they werent treated as immigrants; they were belongings.
The fact remains, however, that they were people. It is not fair that the government
encompassed the arrival of slaves, while other eager immigrants were deprived of
the opportunities that America had to offer. Unfortunately, they were not deemed as

lucrative enough to the government when paralleled to slaves. During the 1800's,
the need for work became great. There was the development of the railroad;
manufacturing and mass production in manufacturing was becoming a large
industry; and more and more communication and shipping additions were becoming
a necessity6. With progression in so many areas at one time, there was a shortage
of obtainable manpower to execute the many different jobs. Therefore, the
government allowed states to bring in immigrants as workers. Like the railroad
development, the gold rush caused California and the nearby states to look to the
west, specifically China7. Chinese and other Asians were taken to the United States
in congested ships to do manual labor that American workers could not or would not
do. An instance of this was in California. Most men turned their attention to mining
for gold, leaving very few manual workers to construct the towns that were starting
to develop all along the coast. Though the Chinese immigrants were feared and
hated by much of the region, they were allowed because of their usefulness to the
Americans8. Without the mass of manual workers from China, many of the mining
towns would never have been created, and much less flourished. In addition, Asian
workers were an easy profit for the corporations that carried them across. The
Chinese willingly worked for almost nothing, but were reimbursed by being treated
more like slave workers than hired workers. Then, as soon as they were no longer
needed, many were either sent back to China or had to bear with cruel, prejudiced
exclusion laws.

The Mexicans are another collection of people who have had to deal with
America's discriminating nepotism. After the Great Depression, large collections of
Mexicans came across the border for healthier wages. The motivation that propelled

most of the Mexican immigrants was the fact that, when matched to Mexico, the
United States has always had a greater standard of living. Consequently, if they
couldnt come legally, they came illegally, determined to make a healthier life for
themselves. American cultivators near the border did not protest against this
because the Mexicans worked for much less than U.S. citizens 9. There have been
times in history when American companies and even the government itself
encouraged Mexican immigration. However, once the necessity for their unskilled
work had passed or the influx of immigrants became too big, both local and federal
divisions tried to stop it10.

Another instance of limitations used by the government for their own

purposes is the division of preference categories made in 1965. Families of
American citizens made up 74% of the immigrants allowed in United States. Artists,
scientists, and both accomplished and inexperienced laborers accounted for another
20%, while the amount of refugees was limited to a mere 6% 11. The thought behind
these preferences was to sift out migrants that were considered as bad stock.
Officials in the government wanted to make America an unpolluted nation, made
only of brilliant and valuable people. Such actions and laws made by the American
government earlier in time seemed to send a very troubling message: They thought
that they had the right to put circumstances or limits on freedom. However, it is
unfair to negate immigrants the opportunity at a better life simply for the reason
that they may not be able to provide the government some kind of substantial
income in return.

Among anti-immigrant's, another point for their argument is the issue is the
economy. Many Americans feel that when poor, untrained immigrants come to the
United States, they take away employments from other American citizens 12. The
reason for this is that many immigrants, whether legal or illegal, preform labor for
substantially lower pay than the usual skilled worker does. Some also fear that alien
ideas might change the United States economy in an undesirable way. One citizen
voiced this fear when he said, "Unless we do preserve those bases of our economic
structure against the corroding influences which have already weakened them, I do
not see how we may continue our industrial and economic progress" 13. Fears like
these may have derived from World War II and the Cold War. During these times,
there was the worry that people from totalitarian or communist governments would
integrate their ideology into America's system, therefore corrupting it. These
uncertainties were based more on belief than fact. To begin with, out of the few
rebellious immigrants that did make it into the United States, there was barely
sufficient amount of them to bring about a economic change. Secondly, confining
immigrants will hurt the economy more than it will help it. In reality, immigrants can
pose a risk to the uneducated American laborer, but such rivalry is healthy in that it
forces those Americans to get better education 14.

A look back in the past will show that America's financial growth is closely
related to the increase in population, much of which is due to immigration. Besides
the fact, studies show that unemployment is due not to migrants, but to variations
in supply, demand, and other connected economic factors 15. If all migrants were
deported or otherwise removed from their occupations, these positions would be
open to Americans workers. Nonetheless, many of the empty spaces would not be

filled because of the fact that most Americans will not to work for low wages 16. Jobs
would go uncompleted, which would raise manufacturing and consumer costs,
subsequently decreasing the standard of living. Americans seem to oversee these
issues when accusing immigrants for their financial problems.

Americans that have established anti-immigrant attitudes are figurative to a

man that finds an oasis in the desert. The man is jubilant at his finding, but
frightened that if he shares it with anybody else, it will be drained dry. He thus far
tries to put up barriers and other defenses to protect his oasis. Americans, afraid
that all of their freedoms will be taken away by foreigners, create alike defenses in
the form of limitations. They justify their actions by saying that they are trying to
preserve America's standards of freedom and liberty against corruption. This is
where the mistake lies. Immigration has been a fragment of America since its very
start. This nation was constructed on visions and ideas of what might be a healthier
world. For centuries, the United States has been captivating diverse cultures, faiths,
and races of people, factors which have not corrupted America's faith in
independence. Anti-immigrants' fears are also without grounds because liberty
cannot be ruined as long as there are individuals who believe in it; freedom is not a
tangible thing that can be used up. Americans need to understand this before
putting limitations on immigration and to remember that it is America's variances
that has made it and continue to make it strong.

Notes

1 Handlin, 281
2 Philbrick, 62
3 Grant, 111
4 Tveitmoe, 757
5 Lehman, 779
6 Early American Immigration Policies, n.p.
7 Handlin, 153
8 Seward, 761
9 Chiswick, 45-46
10 Chiswick, 201
11 Appel xvi
12 Lehman 777-778
13 Grant 7
14 Lehman 778
15 Bernard 79
16 Chiswick

231

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