Research on US Immigration Policy

There is an awful lot that I didn't and still don't know about US immigration policy. In my research, I read through a brief history of it and was surprised about a lot that I had read. I had no idea that immigration policy in the US dated back to the early republic. Immigration began to surge after the Civil War which caused the Supreme Court to rule that immigration regulation was a federal responsibility. In turn, they passed the Immigration Act of 1882 which required each immigrant to pay fifty cents to be admitted into the country. I looked it up and today this equals about twelve dollars, which is nothing compared to what some illegal immigrants pay to cross the border today. However, not just anyone was allowed in. They rejected anyone who was likely to become a public charge. There were more acts instilled as Chinese workers arrived to work on projects, like the transcontinental railroad, which prohibited laborers from entering the country. These included the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the Alien Contract Labor laws of 1885 and 1887.  

            Congress passed more restrictions on immigration in the US in the 1900’s because of the arrival of 24 million immigrants from 1900-1924. This is known as the “Great Wave.” By 1907, polygamists, political radicals, people with physical or mental disabilities, and unaccompanied children were also refused admittance into the country. In addition, the Gentleman’s agreement gave Japanese these immigration restrictions too. I thought this was really interesting because, if I understand this right, it means that America not only managed to exclude these groups of people but managed to get Japan to do the same. It is one thing to reject people who have committed crimes or who may commit crimes again because obviously you don’t want to invite people into your home if you know they’re going to cause problems; however, rejecting those who have no control over their disabilities (mental or physical) is incredibly wrong. We should strive to help those in need, not banish them.

            As I continued through the US immigration policy history, more and more restrictions were piled onto the others, especially after WWI and September 11, 2001.  After 9/11, more control over the border was given to the military and in 2002 the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act were passed. Recently, the debates about immigration haven’t settled down. In fact, they've gotten worse. Now America is dealing with the repercussions of all of the controversial bills they've passed, such as the authority to question anyone “reasonably suspected” of being illegal. This has caused things like mass amounts of racial profiling which causes even more debate and issues. We’re blurring the lines of what is morally right and wrong just to keep people out of our country.

While I don’t believe in just letting everybody and anybody into the US, I do think the process for those who are willing to make a better life for themselves and their families while also making good contributions to America should be made easier. The process is so long and complicated that most families find it easier just to come into the country illegally which, as we've seen, doesn't help us or them much in the long run. But then again, these policies were put there for other reasons then just keeping bad people out.  Letting tons of immigrants into the US could also cause more problems as far as population goes. Population growth would then affect many other parts of the economy, like jobs for example. I’m not entirely sure what the solution to all of this is, but there’s got to be something better than what we’re doing now. There’s got to be a solution that will both benefit immigrants who wish to contribute and make good for the country and their families as well as keeping the population numbers under control. Maybe there’s not, but hopefully someday we’ll find it.