Immigrants In America

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United States of America is often called ‘The Land of the Free’, with Statue of Liberty being the symbol of freedom. Back in the old days, when immigrants arrived in ships in the great city of New York, they saw it as welcoming sign. People from all over the world come are ready to sacrifice everything they have, just so they can get a chance to go to United States. They all dream to live in the utopia. And rightfully so. It has the most powerful military, backed by a strong economy and a multi-cultural society. But more than a century ago, circumstances were much different for a non-white U.S. citizen. Not everybody had access to all the rights a white native American had. The second half of 20th century, especially the Immigration Act of …show more content…
born citizens didn’t have equal rights, so it was impossible for a non-white immigrant to have equal rights. A prime example of this is the Chinese Expulsion Act of 1882, which affected policies regarding other ethnicities. President Chester A. Arthur banned Chinese citizens for 10 years, which was partly renewed in 1892 by the Geary Act and then again in 1902. Although one of the reasons for creation of this act was to preserve jobs for citizens, similar to the tension between the Hispanic and white Americans today. The main driving force was racial tensions. A good percentage of Americans didn’t want Chinese, regardless of their country of origin, to be in their country. This animosity began during the Gold Rush in 19th Century. As their numbers increased, conflict between the immigrants and citizens increased, especially in California. It was the first federal law implemented to prevent the immigration of a specific ethnic group into the United …show more content…
society. The nation-origin quotas were abolished in 1968 because of this act. The limitation on the number of immigrants of entering the country from eastern hemisphere was increased to 170,000 while the number for the western hemisphere was 120,000. This Act also changed the preference for immigrants. By the end of 19th century and early 20th century, white Europeans were the desired immigrants. But as per this act, seven categories were to be used for immigration. Four of those were for family reunion, two for professional and skilled workers and one for refugees, who were victims of natural
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