Immigration crisis nothing new in country viewed as haven for persecuted

Immigration crisis nothing new in country viewed as haven for persecuted

Border Crisis: Third in a series

By Martha Simmons
Correspondent, The Alabama Baptist

For a country that often prides itself on being a nation of immigrants, the United States (U.S.) hasn’t always welcomed the “huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” 

Since its infancy as a country founded largely by foreign-born people fleeing religious persecution, America has pretty much moved from one immigration crisis to another. Here’s a look at how immigration — both legal and illegal — has shaped American history.

1700s

French-speaking Roman Catholic Acadians exiled from what is now Canada relocate to Virginia but are met with anti-Catholic sentiment and are eventually deported to English prisons where many die.

German immigrants are initially welcomed but then criticized in U.S. newspapers and marginalized for their efforts to emancipate slaves.

Irish refugees fleeing starvation are allowed in but are ridiculed and denied employment because of their Catholic religion.

Congress passes laws allowing white and free immigrants to become naturalized citizens.

1800s

Immigration slows during the Civil War.

Nativist political parties strengthen and anti-immigration laws are enacted.

In the late 1800s, Congress actively encourages immigration from European countries while suspending immigration from China.

A wave of immigration during the Industrial Era is met with a rising tide of anti-immigrant sentiment.

1900s

The Immigration Act of 1917 bars immigrants from many countries suffering from various issues including people with mental and physical handicaps, labeling them as “undesirables.”

The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 caps immigration to 3% of immigrants from the same home country, except for professionals or Latin Americans.

Pre-World War II America shuts the door on almost all countries except England and other close allies; refugees were particularly hard-hit by the measure.

The refusal of Jewish immigrants — both before and after World War II — along with massive numbers of people worldwide displaced by war and shifting national boundaries, eventually sparks new and largely pro-immigrant laws and policies, including the Truman Directive (1945), Displaced Persons Act of 1948, U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (1951), Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and Refugee Relief Act of 1953.

The U.S. begins accepting immigrants from communist countries in 1953 especially welcoming well-educated people; Cubans fleeing Fidel Castro’s regime dominate U.S. immigration in the 1960s and 1970s. 

The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 abolishes the earlier quota system and focuses on reuniting immigrant families and attracting skilled laborers. 

Southeast Asian refugees begin arriving in 1975, their numbers eclipsing those of earlier Cuban immigrants.

In 1980 a crisis ensues when some 125,000 Cubans and 25,000 Haitians arrive in a six-month period forcing the U.S. government to establish tent cities and other refugee camps and emergency processing centers; anti-immigrant sentiments are on display as the Ku Klux Klan holds a rally and cross-burning near the refugee tent city set up at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.

Illegal immigration sharply increases from destabilized countries in Central and South America in the 1980s and 1990s.

The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 establishes amnesty programs for most illegal immigrants who entered the U.S. before 1982, but criminalizes the hiring of illegal aliens as workers and institutes the I-9 form for all employees.

New legal permanent residents increase from 595,014 in 1981 to more than 1.8 million in 1991. 

The Immigration Act of 1990 expands deportation laws, increases border protections and caps immigration to 675,000 people per year; nevertheless legal immigration continues to rise well above the cap.

2000s

Immigrant numbers drop significantly after 9/11.

Patriot Act of 2001 and the Homeland Security Act of 2002 clamp down on immigrants and increase security measures, but legal immigration resumes its generally upward trend a couple of years later, frequently topping 1 million new legal immigrants annually.

Total estimated unauthorized immigrant populations rise from 8.6 million in 2000 to a high of 12 million in 2008 but decline somewhat in ensuing years.

During his 2016 campaign Donald Trump promises to eliminate immigration from Muslim countries and build a wall along the 1,954-mile border between Mexico and the U.S.

An estimated 11 million unauthorized immigrants currently live in the U.S.; about 63,000 of whom live in Alabama, with 63% from Mexico, 11% from Guatemala and 11% from Asia.

In 2019 headlines are dominated by family separation policies, crowded and unsanitary conditions in overwhelmed immigrant detention facilities, detainee deaths and illnesses, inadequately funded and staffed border patrol facilities; politically charged debates between the president and Congress about immigration continue.