Introduction IMMIGRATION AND UNITED STATES

1. IntroductionIMMIGRATION AND UNITED STATES • The Golden Door: I. Many reasons contributed to the migration of people since 1815. A. Rapid changes in agricultural methods—technology, i.e., less farm labor needed. B. Food surpluses led to increased population growth. Consequently, people uprooted by changes from a pre-industrial form of social organization and these people formed the migrant “streams” or “waves”—from native lands to other countries.

2. Three great immigration streams to the U.S.A. and each had different characteristics: 1. Great immigrant stream: 19th century—Irish potato famine, and by the mid-1850’s two million Irish came to the U.S.A. and England. Native’s reactions: (i) Irish poverty-stricken and lived in Eastern cities, e.g., “Little Dublins.” (ii) Stereotyped as ruffians, ignorant, etc. (iii) dominated the Catholic Church hierarchy in the U.S. (iv) Politically active—conflicts with the English.

3. 2. 19th century Germans: (i) by the end of the century, Germans were the single largest ethnic minority in the 27 U.S. States. 3. Changing Patterns of Immigration: (i) 1861-1870 decade, Immigrants from Norway and Sweden increased rapidly. (ii) The shift to federal control of immigration was launched in 1875, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that only the U.S. Congress was empowered by the constitution to regulate immigration.

4. (iii) As the receiving facilities in New York became overcrowded and misused for political reasons, the federal government opened a new receiving station on Ellis Island—later became known as “Isle of Tears,”because many immigrants were denied entrance to the U.S.A.

5. 4. The 2nd Great Immigration Stream: (i) From 1890-1924 immigrants came from Southern and Eastern Europe, e.g., Italy, Spain, Portugal, Slovaks, Greeks, Poles, etc. (ii) Their languages and religions were further removed from the English than was the first- stream of immigrants. (iii) Labor recruiters brought most of the immigrants to U.S. (iv)Like the first-stream immigrants, they were poverty-stricken farmers who were forced off the land by industrialization. (v) After the 1890 census the U.S. frontier (border) had been declared officially “closed.”

6. (vi) By 1900, second-stream immigrant groups were the main source of workers—industrial production. (vii) The promise of a new life in America became a shattered dream because many lived in ethnic slums. The Italians: (i) beginning in 1890 over 30 million Italians came to the U.S. (ii) most were farmers but some worked in blue collar and lower level white collar jobs. (iii) Many Italian immigrants did not intend to stay in the U.S.—called Sojourners or birds of passage. (v) Many lived in houses that were unfit for human habitation.

7. Native’s Reaction: (i) Americans stereotyped Italians as criminals, “mafia” or “cosa Nostra.” “Little Italy’s” were built to commit crime, etc. (ii) Anglo Americans did not recognize the differences between the Northern and Southern Italians, as a result, the two culturally and economically different Italians joined together to form a new ethnic group within a different society—process called ethnogenesis. This can occur when the dominant group rejects immigrants.

8. Jews: Sephardic and Ashkenazaic: (i) Sephardim Jews were the earliest, and came from Spain, Portugal and Holland. (ii) Ashkenazim Jews: came from Germany, and outnumbered the Sephardim Jews. They became the primary force within Jewish American life. (iii) 1st and 2nd stream immigrant Jews were itinerant peddlers—lay the foundation for the development of department stores, e.g., Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Sears Roebuck, etc.

9. Immigration Restrictions: A Preview (i) Immigration laws passed in 1924 closed the Golden Door and introduced the use of the national-origins principle in the calculation of immigration quotas. (ii) Laws and legal agencies were created to deal with the increasing complexities of immigration. 5. The 3rd Great Immigrant Stream: (i) the 3rd great immigrant stream or new immigration (1946-present) came mainly from Latin America and Asia. (ii) End of World War II –refugees also came to the U.S.

10. (iii) the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) of 1952 and its amendments of 1965 made America’s immigration law more democratic, more humane, and fairer to all of the world’s countries. (iv) Rejection of the National Origins Principle: in 1943, a program to admit temporary agricultural workers from Mexico was initiated; and in 1948 Congress passed the Displaced Persons Act. (v)The 1965 INAA (Hart-Celler Act) abolished the National Origins Principle and introduced special preference designations for people with skills and increased the entry of relatives, etc.

11. 6. Three socio-cultural effects of the new immigration laws: (i) the laws concerning refugees and displaced persons, and also the government’s parole authority were responses to new global realities. (ii) The new laws altered the racial and ethnic composition of the 3rd immigrant stream—leading to “Browning of America.” (iii) The difficulty of immigrating legally to the U.S.A. increased the number of persons who came as undocumented.

12. 7.  In Summary: 1st immigrant stream came from Western and Northern Europe, e.g., 1. England, 2. Ireland, Germany, 3. Norway, 4. Finland, and 5. Sweden. • Anglo conformity model worked for them because they are similar to the English. • 2nd immigrant stream came from Southern and Eastern, e.g., 1. Portugal, 2. Spain, 3. Greece, 4. Russia, 5. Poland and 6. Yugoslavia. • Melting pot ideology worked for them—more removed from the English.

13. 3rd immigrant stream came from Latin America and Asia, e.g., 1. Mexico, 2. China, and 3. rest of the world. • Cultural pluralism worked for them –dissimilar—browning of America.