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Ryan Shannon

English 1201

Professor Barnes

March 20,2019

For dreamers, is current U.S. immigration policy a nightmare?

Immigration is an issue for every nation in the world. Do we let everyone in

who wants to? Does the United States government create barriers, physical and

political, to make it more difficult for foreign immigrants who wish to be

naturalized to do so? With both sides of the political isle using the immigration

problem as an opportunity to push forward their own agenda, whose information is

more reliable? Who should we listen to and how much of what they say should we

trust? We forget that these arguments and debates are regarding real people. Many

of which want to come into the United States not to do harm, but to live the

American dream. Have we made it too difficult for these dreamers to achieve their

goal in a legal way? Policies can change but if those who have the power to make

these changes cannot, we will always wonder who the Land of Opportunity is for.

Current immigration policy is extremely difficult to understand for someone

without an education in law but there are many sources that summarize it. There

are also many different pieces to the puzzle that is immigration policy but the most
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troublesome may be the difficulty to achieve naturalization. According to the

‘American Immigration Council’ there are a few different ways to achieve a green-

card and ultimately United State citizenship, the first being family-based

immigration. Through family-based immigration “prospective immigrants under

the immediate relatives’ category must meet standard eligibility criteria, and

petitioners must meet certain age and financial requirements.” Immediate relatives

are: “spouses of U.S. citizens, unmarried minor children of U.S. citizens (under 21

years old), and parents of U.S. citizens (petitioner must be at least 21-years old to

petition for a parent.)” There is also employment-based immigration where the

United States provides immigrants with “valuable skills” to come into the country

legally in a permanent capacity. This is limited to 140,000 per year including their

spouses and minor unmarried children. The most important piece to this puzzle is

that after receiving green-cards in either of these ways, there are additional

requirements that must be met to qualify for U.S. citizenship through

naturalization. These green card holders must hold this status “for at least five

years or three years if he or she obtained the green card through a U.S. citizen

spouse or through the Violence Against Women Act.) Other exceptions include

those who serve in the United States military in a time of war. All applicants must

meet certain criteria as well including: “at least 18-years of age, demonstrate

continuous residency, demonstrate “good moral character,” pass English and U.S.
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history and civics exams, and pay an application fee.” The process is long and

complicated but is meant to ensure that only desirable persons become U.S.

citizens. For us to understand how we got to the current state of immigration

policy, we must look at our history before going further.

While today’s policy is confusing enough, America’s history with

immigration shows that there have always been questions about who we allow in

and how many. The ‘Center for Immigration Studies’ gives a summarized

historical timeline describing where America stood on immigration. During the

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1800’s America was actively attempting to settle the open lands acquired either

through territorial expansion or purchase (Louisiana Purchase as an example.)

America welcomed new immigrants, but certain states began to pass immigration

laws in the latter part of the century. Wanting to keep immigration policy the same

throughout the Union, “the Supreme Court in 1876 declared the regulation of

immigration to be a federal responsibility.” The federal government then began to

pass immigration laws which would create barriers to those wanting to enter the

United States. The first was the Chinese Exclusion Act which according to

‘Ballotpedia’ “prohibited the entry of Chinese laborers into the country for 10

years.” Next the Immigration Act of 1882 “established a 50-cent tax to enter the

country, to be paid by each immigrant upon entry. It also excluded any convict,

lunatic, idion, or any person unable to take care of him or herself without

becoming a public charge from entry altogether.” The Bureau of Immigration was

then formed after legislation was passed in 1891 and 1895. The Immigration Act of

1891 “expanded these categories to include polygamists, individuals convicted of

crimes of moral depravity, and those with contagious diseases that posed a threat to

public health.”

The first half of the 1900’s saw the Great War followed by the “Great

Wave.” The Great War kept many Europeans from immigrating and so once it

ended, almost 24 million immigrants came over from 1900 to 1920 according to
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Center for Immigration Studies. Due to this influx of immigrants, Congress passes

the Immigration Act of 1924. The ‘Office of the Historian’ introduces the Act as

one that “limited the number of immigrants allowed entry into the United States

through a national origins quota.” This act, also known as the Johnson-Reed Act,

included provision excluding from entry “any alien who by virtue of race or

nationality was ineligible for citizenship.” Due to existing laws passed between

1790 and 1870, people of Asian lineage were excluded from naturalization. This

meant that those from Asian countries such as Japan, were not only disallowed

from becoming United States citizens, they were not allowed into the United States

for any reason. The depression then took hold of the world and immigration

numbers plummeted, largely in part because financially for most, it was

impossible.

Not until the 1950’s did the Immigration Act change with the passing of the

Immigration Act of 1952, finally ending the exclusion of Asian persons. The act

did though, keep the quotas of persons of Asia and Asian descent who would be

allowed. ‘Densho Encyclopedia’ provides that “a person of Chinese ancestry

entering the United States from Latin America would still count toward the

Chinese quota regardless of nationality and place of birth.” While the polices did

change, the bias towards Asians did not. The Immigration Act of 1952 came only

two years after the McCarran Act which was passed in response to growing
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domestic anti-Communist fears. The McCarran Act according to

‘Encyclopedia.com’ “authorized the exclusion and deportation of Communists and

other “subversives and provided for the detention of potential espionage agents and

subversives whenever the president proclaimed an internal security emergency.”

Due to these expanded governmental powers, the Immigration Act of 1952 also

expanded the power to “exclude, deport, and detain aliens deemed subversive or

seen as holding subversive views.” It gave the government the ability to limit

immigration in a way that protected America’s security, but it would once again be

updated almost ten years later.

The Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965 would finally do away with

the national origins quota system. It did, however, establish a worldwide limit on

immigration to the United States. The law also, according to Ballotpedia,

“established systems of family-based and employment-based preference categories

for the issuance of visas to individuals seeking to come to the United States.” This

was the first step in allowing immigrants without any bias of nationality or origin,

at least this was the intent. In 1986 the Immigration Reform and Control Act was

written to amend the system and to reduce illegal immigration. This act “granted

legal status to individuals residing in the United States without legal permission

who met certain conditions.” Nearly 2.7 million illegal immigrants were granted

legal status under the Act. Then in 1996 the Illegal Immigration Reform and
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Immigrant Responsibility Act was passed to better enforce current immigration

laws. It introduced penalties for those attempting border crossings and a process

which would expedite the removal of those in America illegally. This was the last

major piece of immigration legislation to be passed in the 20th Century.

Since the turn of the century there have been no major pieces of legislation

passed which would present a simpler path to naturalization. The Enhanced Border

Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002 and the Secure Fence Act of 2006 are

the only two passed not using executive action. While President Obama focused on

deferring the deportation of those in the United States illegally, President Trump

has taken steps to suspend entry to peoples of certain countries like the act of 1924.

History has a way of repeating itself and that is why it is important to look at where

we have been to better prepare and understand the future. We must also look at

these immigrants as people.

President Donald Trump when speaking about immigrants in May of 2018

made very clear his thoughts on immigration when he said, “We have people

coming into the country or trying to come in, we’re stopping a lot of them, but

we’re taking people out of the country. You wouldn’t believe how bad these

people are. These aren’t people. These are animals.” Spreading the fear of open

immigration with the American people will only create a more divisive atmosphere

when it comes to policy creation. Even when these immigrants can enter the
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United States legally, they are met with resistance and face an uphill battle to

citizenship.

History shows that the United States has had a love/hate relationship with

immigrants, sometimes rejecting groups of peoples for long periods of time. The

U.S. has also added extra steps to ensure those coming into the country are good,

wholesome people. Policies can change but until those responsible for making the

changes act in a way that sees all immigrants as people, naturalization for

immigrants will always be a challenge.

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Works Cited

Act.", "The McCarran Internal Security. “The McCarran Internal Security Act.”

The Oxford Companion to American Military History, Encyclopedia.com,

2019, www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-

and-maps/mccarran-internal-security-act.

Bier, David. “Why the Legal Immigration System Is Broken: A Short List of

Problems.” Cato Institute, 10 July 2018, www.cato.org/blog/why-legal-

immigration-system-broken-short-list-problems.

“Historical Overview of Immigration Policy.” CIS.org, cis.org/Historical-

Overview-Immigration-Policy.

“History of Immigration Policy in the United States.” Ballotpedia,

ballotpedia.org/History_of_immigration_policy_in_the_United_States.

“How the United States Immigration System Works.” American Immigration

Council, 2 Jan. 2019, americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/how-united-

states-immigration-system-works.

“Immigration Act of 1952.” Immigration Act of 1952 | Densho Encyclopedia,

encyclopedia.densho.org/Immigration_Act_of_1952/.
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“Immigration Reform.” Speaker Nancy Pelosi,

www.speaker.gov/issue/immigration-reform/.

Korte, Gregory, and Alan Gomez. “Trump Ramps up Rhetoric on Undocumented

Immigrants: 'These Aren't People. These Are Animals.'.” USA Today, Gannett

Satellite Information Network, 17 May 2018,

www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/05/16/trump-immigrants-

animals-mexico-democrats-sanctuary-cities/617252002/.

“The Immigration Act of 1924 (The Johnson-Reed Act).” U.S. Department of

State, U.S. Department of State, history.state.gov/milestones/1921-

1936/immigration-act.