Mya Acosta
AMS 100
Professor Seth San Juan
July 17, 2020
Response Paper #2
According to the readings provided, the U.S. government enforces more immigration
laws so that the number of immigrants decreases. As read in the previous chapters,
during the early years of the United States, our country needed a lot of labor to support
its development and expansion into more land. They increased the population of the
United States and provided a huge workforce. Immigration also brought some of the
science and technology needed for the industrialization of the United States. Adding on
because of immigration, the culture of various ethnic groups is what created what we
know today to be American culture. The United States used to have no restrictions on
immigration, and welcomed and encouraged more immigrants to come over. Therefore,
a large number of Europeans immigrated to the United States during this period.
However, the U.S. government began restricting immigration and reducing the number
of immigration through time. The government began to select the immigrants needed by
the United States and reject the people that are not needed. In order to strengthen
measures to restrict and select immigration, the US Congress passed an immigration
law such as the Johnson-Reed Act of 1924. It established many restrictions for the
amount of immigrants entering the country and determined the ethnic origin of
immigrants. One of the most prominent features of the immigration quota system is
racism. It excluded Asian immigrants and restricted the entry of immigrants from eastern
and southern Europe. In conclusion, I think that as long as an immigrant is not a
criminal and contributes to our society as much as someone who is a born-citizen they
should not have to worry about being restricted from entering this country. The United
States should not continue with an unfair immigration system because I believe it
creates a divide in this country.
Reference
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Howard Temperley and Christopher Bigsby. (2006). A New Introduction to
American Studies. Pearson Press.