1. American Ambivalence* on Immigration
Nativism
*Ambivalence: state of having mixed/contradictory ideas about something

3. Nativism: The Basics - In general terms: Anti-Immigrant Sentiment
Wants to decrease immigration to the U. S. in order to keep America ethnically homogenous
Became increasingly popular at the end of the 19th century.
Why?

5. Features / Characteristics of Nativism
1) Focused on the “New Immigrants”
Those groups who came to the US in large numbers for the 1st time at the end of the 19th century.
Came from Latin America, S.E. Europe, Asia
Were noticeably different from the “Old Immigrants”
Groups who came in large numbers in early/mid 1800s (or earlier)
Came from NW Europe
Were mostly WASP
White Anglo Saxon Protestant
Differences: -religion, language,
skin color, social customs

6. Bottom right-men from russian empire
Center- ruthenian woman? “East slavic under Austro-Hungarian authority”

7. Features / Characteristics of Nativism
2) Used Social Darwinism as a justification
Society was like nature: the strong would survive and prosper; the weak would struggle and die out
Some races were believed to be stronger than others
New Immigrants were “beaten men from beaten races”
Allowing weak races to enter would be “race suicide”
3) Was Pro-Protestant, anti-Catholic
4) Supported the Melting Pot Idea-
immigrants needed to assimilate
ASAP
5) Generally becomes more popular during economic downturns

9. Nativist Methods Prevention Stop immigrants from entering the country
Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)
The 1st time the US limited immigration
Banned Chinese laborers
Gentleman’s Agreement with Japan (1907)
Japan agreed to not issue visas
Literacy Requirements (1917)

10. Nativist Methods Deterrence
Treat them like 2nd class citizens so fewer will choose to come
National Level
Naturalization Acts of 1790 and limited naturalized citizenship to those who were white (1790) or of African-descent (1870)
(birthright citizenship applied to ALL races)
State/Local Level
Segregated schools in San Francisco (1906)
Excluded from owning property
Prohibited from certain jobs
Forced to pay special taxes
- Women were prohibited from immigrating

12. E. Europe (Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey)
Year
Total Entering U.S.
Great Britain
E. Europe (Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey)
Italy
1920
430,001
38,471
3,913
95,145
1921*
805,228
51,142
32,793
222,260
1922
309,556
25,153
12,244
40,319
1923
522,919
45,759
16,082
46,674
1924*
706,896
59,490
13,173
56,246
1925
294,314
27,172
1,566
6,203
1926
304,488
25,528
1,596
8,253

13. National Origins Act of 1924
One of a series of immigration laws passed in the 1920s
Nativists had been asking for such a law for decades; international fears relating to WWI and the Russian Revolution now pushed Congress to take action
Limited the total # of immigrants AND established individual quotas for each country
Quota was 2% of the number of people from that country already in America (based on the census)
If 100,000 people from a certain country were in the U.S., then each year, 2,000 more immigrants from that country could immigrate
Used the 1890 census!
BEFORE the influx of New Immigrants

14. The Immigration Act of 1965
Signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement
-Abolished the quota system; replaced it with “hemispheric caps”
-170,000 for the Eastern Hemisphere
-120,000 for the Western
-with an annual limit of 20,000 from any nation.
Those limits don’t include refugees and/or family members of immigrants already here (“chain migration”)
Effects:
- total # of immigrants increased
million immigrants
- type of immigrant changed
fewer Europeans, many more Asians, Middle
Easterners, and Latinos

16. Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986
A “comprehensive” bill signed by President Reagan intended to deal with the problem of unauthorized immigration
-what do with the illegal immigrants already here
-how to prevent more from entering
3 Main Provisions
gave unauthorized aliens the opportunity to apply + gain legal status if they met certain requirements (Amnesty?)
after an applicant was assigned a legal status, he was disqualified from receiving all forms of public welfare assistance for 5 years
2.7 million were granted legal status
(Amnesty=the gov’t deciding to not punish those who entered/resided in the country illegally)
Created sanctions for employers who knowingly hired an illegal immigrant
Put in place 50 % increase in Border Patrol staffing, to prevent more from entering illegally

17. DREAM Act, proposed
Meant to give legal status to those who were brought to the country illegally as kids
Would grant legal residence to those who
Entered the U. S. before age 16
Graduated high school or earned GED
Have no criminal record
Have been in the U.S. for 5 continuous years
Then, would grant citizenship to those who obtained a 2-year college degree (or higher) and/or served 2 years in the military
After Congress blocked this bill, Pres Obama issued several executive orders to start to deal with the problem on his own.
After Republicans challenged these actions, several court rulings have put them on pause. Stay tuned…