CREATING THE U.S. RACIAL ORDER DYNAMIC 3: IMMIGRATION

CREATING THE U.S. RACIAL ORDER 1. Enslavement and Racial Domination 2. Conquest and Dispossession 3. Immigration and Racialized Incorporation

IMMIGRATION HISTORICALLY: shaped U.S. population (size, diversity) CURRENTLY: reshaping U.S. population Most Americans have immigrant origins

IMMIGRATION--IMAGES

IMMIGRATION AS A RACIALIZED PROCESS COLONIAL ROOTS: conquest/colonization immigration WHO CAN BECOME A CITIZEN? NATURALIZATION ACT OF 1790

WHO CAN BECOME A CITIZEN? 1790: whites only 14 th Amendment (1868) 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. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. Extended to those born in Africa in 1870 (Naturalization Act) United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898): extended to all native born children of aliens

WHO CAN BECOME A CITIZEN? INDIAN CITIZENSHIP ACT (1924): formally asserted birthright citizenship for Native Americans (applied to about 40% of Native American population) IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT (1952): removed all racial restrictions in immigration and naturalization laws. POINT: for much of the history of the United States, citizenship was limited by racist restrictions.

IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF IMMIGRATION PUSH/PULL FORCES MIGRATION PATTERNS (settlement, chain migration and enclaves, return and commuter migration) U.S. LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE (hardship, prejudice/discrimination, adjustment)

IMMIGRATION PATTERNS BEFORE 1820 Small numbers (U.S. population only 3.9 million in 1790) Primarily (75% of white population [3.1 million]) but not exclusively British Also German, French (Huguenots), Irish, Dutch, Scandinavian. This diversity was important at the time New England was the least diverse (most English) area

IMMIGRATION PATTERNS FIRST WAVE (1820-1880) Rapid increase especially after 1840 (2-3 million per decade) Linked to territorial expansion, industrialization Mostly Northern/Western Europe (Germany, Ireland, Britain, Scandinavia) Also included Chinese and French-Canadians

IMMIGRATION PATTERNS SECOND WAVE (1880-1924) Another rapid increase roughly 5 million per decade (peaked at 8.7 million 1900-1910) Continued immigration from Western Europe, but dramatic increase from Southern and Eastern Europe (Italy, Eastern European Jews, Poland, Greece, Slavs [Russians, Ukrainians, Serbs, Croats, Slovaks]) Sensitive to events (wars, recessions) Destinations: urban, Northeast and Midwest

ANTI-IMMIGRANT BACKLASH Historical fear of foreigners (e.g., Penn vs Germans; Alien and Sedition Acts) Anti-Catholicism ( Know Nothing party of the 1850s; American Protective Association of the 1880s and 1890s) Prejudice, discrimination, exclusion Economic conflict (fear over wages, strikes) Racialized response to Chinese, Japanese, Southern and Eastern Europeans; Anti-Semitism Dillingham Commission (1907-1913) Henry Ford, Madison Grant, KKK Americanization (vs. Germans); fear of radicals

ANTI-IMMIGRANT BACKLASH

IMMIGRATION RESTRICTION 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act 1907 Gentlemen s Agreement (Japan) 1921 National Origins Act (temporary, quotas) 1924 Johnson-Reed Act National quotas for immigration based upon % of foreign population in 1890 (modified in 1929) Effect: drastic reduction in immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe (e.g., quota for Italy 5802) Ban on Asian immigration No restrictions on the Western Hemisphere (needed Mexican labor) Lasted with minor modifications until 1960s

1924-1965: THE HIATUS Immigration restriction Great Depression World War II dramatic decline in immigration Impact: eventual lessening of anti-immigrant attitudes assimilation ( wages of whiteness ) Post WWII: refugees, McCarran-Walter Act, citizenship for Asians

IMMIGRATION TRENDS

INTERNAL MIGRANTS: AFRICAN- AMERICANS THE GREAT MIGRATION

INTERNAL MIGRANTS: AFRICAN- AMERICANS Great Migration 1916-1970: an estimated 6 million African-Americans left the South Internal migration but same dynamics as immigration Push-Pull factors Economic underdevelopment of South; decline of agriculture; segregation; terror Need for labor in North (recruiters) during WWI and with immigration restriction; freedom (relative) Chain migration, enclaves, institutions Discrimination, segregation, lowest on economic ladder

MEXICAN IMMIGRATION: FROM A NEIGHBORING COUNTRY History of Southwest conquest, historical ties Early-mid 20 th century Push (political upheaval, rural dislocation) Pull (need for labor ranches, railroads, mines, agriculture) Not covered by immigration restriction Open border; commuter migration, seasonal labor, often undocumented Discrimination (racialized), unequal pay, menial labor; supported by institutions (police, courts) Labor programs (Bracero Program 1942-1964) Deportation (1930s; Operation Wetback in the 1950s) Ongoing need for labor

CHANGE: IMMIGRATION ACT OF 1965 IMMIGRATION ACT OF 1965 (Hart-Celler Act) [1968] Abolished individual national quotas; every nation had the same limit; banned discrimination in issuing visas (impact of Civil Rights Movement) Overall limit; Western Hemisphere included Preference system Family reunification Skills needed in U.S. Refugees (often politicized) Has been modified multiple times, but basic framework remains

UNANTICIPATED CONSEQUENCES Initially viewed as eliminating racism, reunifying families, sheltering refugees, encouraging skilled workers "This bill we sign today is not a revolutionary bill. It does not affect the lives of millions. It will not restructure the shape of our daily lives." Lyndon B. Johnson, October 1965 REALITY: Set in motion a new wave of immigration that has reshaped the U.S. [also expanded undocumented immigration]

IMMIGRATION PATTERNS THIRD WAVE (1965-PRESENT) FOLLOWING THE 1965 LAW: DRAMATIC INCREASE IN IMMIGRATION CHANGING PATTERNS Declining immigration from Europe Increased immigration from Latin America and Asia Increasing global immigration Increasing undocumented immigration especially after mid 1970s and again after mid 1990s.

SOURCES OF IMMIGRANTS-2008

IMMIGRATION RELATIVE TO THE PAST