Chloe Talbott
5 December 2014
Dr. Kern
Usable Past Essay
All through out American history immigration has been a huge contributing factor
in the culture and debated issues because in reality every person living in this country is a
descendent from an immigrant. In particular, the topic of border control along the
Mexican border is a significant issue now and has been for centuries. This issue has been
centered on if the border is protected enough with guards so people can not sneak
through, and then what to do with people who are in America illegally because of
crossing the border. This has been such a heated topic because the United States was built
on immigration, but there has to be limits and government has to step in. The laws and
regulations that have been passed because of this issue all have the same general idea
except each one gets more detailed than the last.
History in America has ranged from when people are first getting small towns in
America settled, to the a surplus of immigration from all over the world, to today having
issues with people sneaking across the border illegally. During the late 19th and early 20th
century 12 million people came into America through Ellis Island from all over the
world. There were so many people trying to come into the country that the borders had to
be more controlled only allowing certain people in and people were put in very difficult
situations. The government passed laws making it harder for immigrants to become
citizens through literacy tests and citizenship tests. Laws and regulations were also
passed limiting the amount of people to come in America and what happened to them
once they entered America. For example, the Immigration act of 1924 was passed, which
only admitted two percent of the population from that country living in the United States
already to enter. What happened in the 19th century is equivalent to today because there
are certain regulations and laws immigrants have to abide by to get in the country and
become a citizen. Today there are guards at every boarder where people to cross to do
inspections and question people coming into America to keep our country safe. The
process to let people into the country to become citizens has had the same basic
procedure.
The border along Mexico is one of the hardest borders to guard because it is so
vast and people every day are trying to sneak across it to find a better life in America.
The International Boundary and Water Commission said that is the most frequently
crossed border with more than 350 million crossings annually, and stretches 1954 miles.
This borderline has caused issues all through American history because people have
always and will always try to illegally sneak across the border. The National Origins Act
in 1924, limited migration of people from Eastern and Southern Europe and basically
excluded Asians and non-Anglo people from entering the United States. The government
kept passing new laws and regulations, regulating what type of people could enter the US
and how many people of a certain ethnic group could enter. These regulations included
criminals, people with illness, and prostitutes. Today there are still regulations and laws
in action and the government is passing new laws trying to make the process of
immigration not so difficult. The laws that were past in history are still in play today, if
they are either still regulations or if the government can learn from past things that didn’t
work.
The theme of equality has been an issue all throughout history because all
Americans are a descended from immigrants. The American culture is made up of many
different cultures from around the world thanks to immigration, and this can cause some
inequality when one group has the thought they are better and have more power than
another group. This inequality first started during slavery when white people thought they
were better than black people and continued through the age of immigration. During the
19th century when immigration was a huge factor, white business men made huge profits
off immigrants because they could pay them very little for work in a factory or they could
charge them too much for a living space. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 also
prohibited immigration of labor workers in China. This declined the number of legal
immigrants coming into the United States. This created inequality because people of the
Chinese ethnicity working as laborers were not allowed to enter in the US, and there were
few other laws towards another race. Today there is still an issue of equality for
immigrants coming across the Mexican border, but it is not how it used to be. There will
always be people in the United States who think their culture and their traditions are
better than new cultures coming into the country. This is a huge issue and it is
embarrassing the United States still has issues like this, but it is a reaction to the many
new people coming in and bringing with them new folkways.
The subject of big government fixing problems that cannot be solved any other
way besides laws and regulations has worked in the past and is working today. During the
progressive period the government passed labor regulations regulating the amount of
work someone could do in one day or the amount they got paid. All of these laws and
regulations were passed at times of a surplus of new immigrants coming into the United
States getting into the work force. Immigration Literacy Act of 1917 was passed making
new immigrants over the age of 16 take a literacy test before they could become citizens
or enter the workforce. This act also made people pay an $8 tax per person to enter the
country and become a citizen. Laws and regulations are passed to make the process of
crossing the border illegally more difficult, but to make the journey to become a citizen
simpler. With out these laws and regulations dangerous people could enter the country or
immigrants could be taken advantage of. Big government will always be something that
is helpful in the United States because there are issues that cannot be solved by state
government or city government. When the government passes laws and the borders are
guarded better immigration drops and becomes less of an issue.
Today immigration is still a huge issue and a heated debate among people in
power as to what would be the most beneficial because people are thinking of new ways
to cross borders and find jobs. The Border security, Economic Opportunity, and
Immigration Modernization Act of 2013 was passed making it easier for people who have
entered the United States to become citizens. This act is making the border more secure
by adding 40,000 more guards along the Mexican line. Visas are more specific and based
on a point system because of this act. In the Senate, Republicans are outraged by
President Obama because he is letting undocumented illegal immigrants become citizens.
The Republicans hope to pass a new bill in 2015 making it easier to deport illegal
immigrants, create a database for business owners to check the citizenship of their
employees, and to stop rewarding illegal immigrants citizenship. The new acts and laws
being passed are like the rules and regulations that were created in the past in a way that
they limited the amount of people and try to make the border safer. Today the United
States does not pass laws limiting the type of workers becoming citizen, but in the past
laws and regulations were passed limiting the type of labor workers in the US.
The issue of immigration over the Mexican boarder has been an issue throughout
American history because our culture is made up of immigration. Big government is one
of the only ways to solve these problems because it is the only way to pass laws and
regulations every citizen is forced to abide by. Today, these themes are still an issue and
are working on being solved.
Sources
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Milestones 19 21-1936, Office of the Historian,
https://history.state.gov/milestones/1921-1936/immigration-act
Immigration Acts of 1924, Wikipedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_Act_of_1924
Immigration to the United States 1789- 1930, Harvard University Library
Open Collections Program,
http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/immigration/exclusion.html
Ashley Seehorn, Immigration restrictions during the Progressive Era,
ehow, http://www.ehow.com/info_8753580_immigrant-restrictionsduring-progressive-era.html
Summary and Analysis: The Senate Bill (S.744), National Immigration
Law Center, http://www.nilc.org/s744summary1.html
Richard Cowan, Exclusive: Republicans prepare 2015 immigration
legislation, Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/05/us-usacongress-immigration-exclusive-idUSKCN0JI2JX20141205