Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor

StudentReading

Coming toAmerica

“Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathefree,The wretched refuse of your teemingshore.Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,Iliftmylampbesidethegoldendoor!”

Thepoet,EmmaLazarus,wrotethesewordsin1883.TheywerelateraddedtothepedestaloftheStatueofLiberty, a landmark greeting millions of immigrants from Europe who landed at Ellis Island in New York Harbor from 1892 to 1954. The statue and these words have long symbolized that which is unique aboutAmerican society — it is a nation of immigrants, a “melting pot” of people who have come here fromaroundthe globe in search of a better life.

ThepoemmaysuggestthatAmericanshavehistoricallywelcomednewimmigrants,especiallythepoor,withopenarms.Intruth,wehavestruggledcontinuouslyasasocietytoembracenewgroupsofforeigners,andthedebatesonhowwavesofimmigrantsshapeourcultureandeconomy(forbetterorworse)havebeenwagedsinceourearlydaysasanation.BelowisabrieftimelineofimmigrationtrendsandpolicyintheUnitedStates.

TheEarlyYearsofOurNation

ThefoundinggenerationsoftheUnitedStatestracetheirrootsprimarilytotheBritishIslesandotherareasof northwestern Europe. Wars in Europe and America slow immigration during the late 1700’s and early1800’s.NewcomersincludeIrishfleeingEnglishruleandFrenchescapingrevolution.TheConstitutionsayslittleaboutimmigrationandcitizenshipotherthantomaketheseissuestheresponsibilityoftheCongress.Before1820,theUnitedStatesdoesnotevenbothertocounthowmanynewcomersreachitsshoresbyship.Congress outlaws the importation of slaves in 1808. By this time, about 600,000 black Africans have beenbrought to the country against theirwill.

1840’s

AsurgingpopulationinEuropeandapotatoblight(andresultingfamine)inIrelandfuelimmigrationtothe UnitedStates.TheU.S.expansioninbothsizeandindustrializationinthe1800’screatesjobsfornewimmigrants in factories, farming, shipping and railroad building.

TheIrishandGermansarethefirstRomanCatholicstoarriveinlargenumbersinwhatisapredominantly Protestantnation,andtheyaremetwithagooddealofdiscriminationfortheirbeliefsandlifestyles.Thefirst organizedoppositiontoopenimmigrationemergesinthe1840’swiththecreationoftheAmericanParty(also knownasthe“Know Nothing Party”due to thesecretivenessofitsmembers). TheyclaimthatIrishandGerman immigrantsthreatentocorruptthecountry’sheritage,andtheysucceedinfomentinganti-immigrationsentimentforthenextseveraldecades.

1880–1920

LargewavesofimmigrantsarrivefromsouthernandeasternEurope,fillingtheneedforunskilledlaborintheindustrializedcitiesoftheNortheastandMidwest.By1900,80percentofNewYorkersareeitherbornabroador the children ofimmigrants.

Anti-immigrationforcesinCongressintroducebillstomakeliteracyarequirementforentrytotheU.S.asameanstoreduceimmigrationfrompoorercountries.Suchbillsareopposedbybusinessleadersseekingcheap

immigrantlaborandaresuccessfullyvetoedbypresidentsfrom1895-1915.In1917,Congressisabletooverride PresidentWilson’svetoontheliteracytestlegislationamidstthenationalisticspiritatthestartofWorldWarI.

1921-1964

In1921,Congresspassesanotherrestrictivelaw,creatingimmigrationquotasonthebasisofnationalorigin. ThisservesasthebasisoftheNationalOriginsActof1924,whichlimitstheannualimmigrationquotaofeachEuropeannationalityto2percentofitsproportionoftheU.S.populationin1890.Thissharplyreducesimmigration from southern and eastern Europe and closes the door to immigration from Asia until the 1952ImmigrationandNationalityActslightlyrelaxessomeoftheserestrictions.Withsuchastrictquotasystem,immigrationlevelsintheU.S.plummet.Inthe1930s,thenumberofpeopleemigratingfromtheUnitedStates actually exceeds the number of immigrants coming into thecountry.

Following World War II, Congress passes the Displaced Persons Act allowing admission of over 400,000 refugees from Europe, especially those escaping the new Soviet communism in Eastern Europe. During the1950’sand1960’s,anumberofspecialbillsarepassedtoaccommodatesuch“escapees”fromcommunistdomination,thelargestgroupcomingfromCuba(700,000)afterFidelCastro’srevolutiontherein1959.

1965-1980

Thecivilrightsmovementofthe1960’sforceslawmakerstoreexaminethenationaloriginsquotasystemthathasbeeninplaceformorethan40years.TheImmigrationandNationalityActof1965isanimportantturningpointinournation’simmigrationpolicy.Itreplacestheoldquotasystemwithasetofsevenpreferencecategories,placingpriorityonreunitingfamiliesandattractinghighlyskilledprofessionals.ThisushersinanunprecedentedwaveofimmigrationfromAsia,especiallyofuniversity-trainedspecialistsinscienceandmedicine.Inthe1970’s,thelawscapannualimmigrationto290,000,notcountingtheimmediaterelativesofU.S.citizens.Nomorethan20,000immigrantsfromanysinglecountrycanenterthecountrylegally.Despitethestrict regulations, many more immigrants enter the country outside of the normal routes.

1980’s–1990’s

In1986,CongressattemptstotackletheissueofillegalimmigrationwithpassageoftheImmigrationReformandControlAct,whichpenalizesemployerswhoknowinglyhireundocumentedworkers.Italsograntsamnestyto3.2millionillegalimmigrants,allowingthemtobecomeU.S.citizens.TheImmigrationActof1990raisesthelimitonannualimmigrationfrom290,000to675,000.Underthelaw,71percentofvisasgotofamilymembersofU.S.citizensandpermanentlegalresidents.Therestaresetasideforwell-trainedworkersandtheirfamiliesandforimmigrantsfromcountriesthathavereceivedrelativelyfewvisasinrecentyears.

The PresentDebate

Althoughnewerlawsareintendedtostreamlinetheimmigrationprocess,thesystemisslowandoverbur-dened.Today,thebacklogofvisaapplicationsfromfamilymembersofU.S.citizensandlegalresidentstotalsabout3.6million.ImmigrantsaredrawntotheUnitedStatesinrecordnumbers.Althoughannuallegallimitsremainat675,000immigrants,theU.S.governmentestimatesthatabout350,000additionalimmigrantsset-tlepermanentlyintheUnitedStateseachyear.Theseincludestudentsandvisitorswhooverstaytheirvisas,aswellasmigrantswhohavecrossedthebordersintotheU.S.illegally.

Asinotherpointsthroughoutourhistory,oursocietyisengagedinadebateaboutwhatU.S.immigrationpolicy should be. Some considerations include whether current immigration levels strengthen or erode oureconomicvitality;howweshoulddealwithhighlevelsofillegalimmigrationfromLatinAmerica;and whether the overall population increase from newcomers places an undue burden on our natural resourcesandenvironmentalhealth.AsignificantportionofU.S.populationgrowthisduetolegalandillegalimmigration.Asourpopulationpassesthe300millionmark,lawmakersareattemptingtocraftthelatestchapterofU.S. immigrationpolicy.

Name

Date

StudentWorksheet

A Nation ofImmigrants

My Option5

ThefourpolicyoptionsoutlinedintheStudentReading,“U.S.PolicyOptions:WhatShouldWeDo?”presentarangeofpossiblepolicydirectionsandtheconsequencesofeach.Eachofthefouroptionsisputinstarktermstohighlightverydifferent approaches. Link to the article can be found here:

Ranking theoptions

Whichoftheoptionsdoyouprefer?Ranktheoptions,with“1”beingthebestoptionfortheUnitedStatestofollow:

Option1:OpenOurselvestotheWorld

Option 2: Make Emigration Unnecessary

Option3:AdmittheTalentWeNeed

Option 4: RestrictImmigration

Option5

Mostlikely,youaredrawntoaspectsofmorethanoneoption,andnoneentirelyexpressesyourviews.Nowisyourchancetocreateanoptionthatreflectsyourownbeliefsandopinions.Youmayborrowheavilyfromone option,oryoumaycombineideasfromtwoorthreeoptions.Or,youmaytakeanewapproachaltogether. Thereare,ofcourse,noperfectsolutions.Andthereisnorightorwronganswer.Rather,youshouldstriveto craftanoptionthatislogicalandpersuasive.Becarefulofcontradictions.Forexample,youshouldnotsharply reduceimmigrationifyoubelievethatculturaldiversityandfreshideasareessentialtoourcountry’sstrength.

Indevelopingyour“Option5,”youshouldanswerthefollowingquestions:

Howmanylegalimmigrants,includingrefugees,shouldtheUnitedStatesadmittothecountryeveryyear?Explainthebasisofyourdecision.

Howshouldlawmakersdecidewhichapplicantsforimmigrationareadmittedinto the country?

HowshouldtheUnitedStatesdealwiththeissueofillegalimmigration?

WhatimageoftheUnitedStatesdoesyouroptionprojecttotherestoftheworld?What are the two strongest arguments opposing youroption?

What are the two strongest arguments supporting youroption?

What are the two strongest arguments AGAINST youroption?

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Date

Student Worksheet, page2 A Nation ofImmigrantsMy Option5

Now,imaginethattheyearis2050.Howwillyouroptionhaveinfluencedthefollowingtopics?

1.Theeconomy:

2.Population and theenvironment:

3.Foreignpolicy:

4.Bordercontrol:

5.Social servicecosts:

6.Ethnicrelations:

7.Stability in Mexico and CentralAmerica: