Historical background on discrimination of immigrants in

USA:
Despite being a melting pot and a land of opportunity, immigrants are
not always well-treated when they come to the U.S. Throughout history,
the most recent immigrants to this country have almost always confronted
some sort of discrimination often they have had to take the hardest,
worst paid jobs, and have difficulty assimilating entirely into society.
In the U.S., during the 1800s and early 20th Century, both Jews and Italian
immigrants were subject to extreme prejudice, racism, and, in many
cases, violence. During this time, both groups were seen as non-Anglo and
non-white. In fact, Italian Americans were the second most likely ethnic
group to be lynched.
Ethnic minorities can fall victim to anti-immigrant bias that includes a
recurrent preoccupation with nativism (i.e., policies favouring people
born in the United States), resentment when so-called immigrants
succeed (often related to a fear of losing jobs to newcomers), and disdain
or anger when they act against the established norm (e.g. when they dont
know or refuse to learn the language). In the second cause, negative
stereotypes of certain ethnic groups or people of a certain nationality can
fuel antagonism.
People from Latin America are increasingly becoming targets of biasmotivated crimes. Attacks on Latinos have a particularly long history in
California and throughout the Southwest where, during recurring periods of
strong anti-immigrant sentiment, both new immigrants and long-time U.S.
citizens of Mexican descent were blamed for social and economic
problems and harassed and deported en masse.
Bias against Asian Pacific Americans is also long-standing. The Chinese
Exclusion Act passed in 1882 barred Chinese labourers from entering this
country. Along with the dread that these workers would take away jobs
was the feeling that members of this group would not assimilate into
American society. The act was not repealed until 1943.
Since September 11th

Recently, people of Arab descent are experiencing an upsurge in hate

crime, largely as a result of Middle East crises and September 11th. Often
they are blamed for incidents to which they have no connection. The hate
crimes following September 11th, which included murder and beatings,
were directed at Arabs solely because they shared or were perceived as

sharing the national background of the hijackers responsible for attacking

the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.