Immigration Chapter Summary

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In American Immigration A Very Short Introduction, David A. Gerber writes about the removing of barriers and debating consequences in the mid-twentieth century. Gerber states that “Emerging out of the conflict fought to turn the lust for conquest of racist regimes, World War II was the beginning of a long process of rethinking American Immigration and naturalization policy.” Americans Were presented with a paradoxical view on immigration after WWII. Additionally, there was a change in the law which diminished the idea which only allowed white immigrants the right to naturalization. However, the number of people to which were granted the right to naturalization was only 150,000 people in the entire Eastern Hemisphere. Furthermore, after the war, millions of people were displaced in the united states. Which lead to a moral and political ramification. Thus the reintroduction of “The Displaced Persons Act” in 1950. Gerber states that “The Displaced Persons Act of 1948, renewed in 1950, allowed for 250,000 visas over two years for refugees, and under these acts, 450,000 displaced Europeans, including many people such as Italians whose nations were limited by quotas, entered the country.” The united states have always been …show more content…
One factor was that the debate which took place on the third wave of immigration. This was because people believed that with the increase of immigration follows an increase in urban crime and social problems. Nevertheless, an extensive amount of studies conclude that native-born Americans are more likely to perpetrate crimes and the probability of an immigrant committing a crime is less likely. Gerber asserts that “Other studies have revealed that urban crime actually declines with an influx of immigrants, including the relatively poor.” Additionally, Gerber contributes a broad amount of evidence that concludes immigration is vital to the prosperity of the United States.