The United States has always been viewed as a nation of opportunities, a country where potential immigrants might succeed and advance. Nonetheless, US residents have historically and currently worried that immigration depresses incomes and newcomers fail to integrate into American society. These worries shaped historical immigration policies and continue to do so in modern debates. The primary objective of this paper is to discuss how colonialism has helped shape immigration and immigration policies in the United States. Moreover, the paper also discusses how immigrants and immigration policy have been shaped by colonialism.
Negative Impacts of Imperialism
Following independence, the US established dominance over the worldwide imperial network. The postcolonial nation-state of the United States continued Europe’s march toward Asia over the American continent, acquiring American Indian territories and peoples and Mexican territory. Between 1870 and 1920, the United States welcomed almost twenty-five million refugees (Goodman and Adam 190). While the expanding US economy required a considerable number of immigrant labor to staff its companies, many Americans responded angrily to the influx of foreigners. The nativists were anti-immigrants, believing that newcomers were unsuited for the United States democracy and that refugees from Ireland or Italy corrupted city administrations via force or extortion. In 1876, Franklin Benjamin Sanborn addressed an interstate convention of charity authorities in Saratoga, supporting restrictive federal immigration law (Gerber and David 6824). Gerber and David enumerated that immigration may provide some advantages while at the same time it also brings “illness, illiteracy, crime, poverty, and laziness” (6825). Sanborn thus championed that the federal government take action to halt “indiscriminate and unrestricted immigration.” (Gerber and David 6825). Sanborn’s statement was directed at limiting immigration to the Eastern Coast by the destitute from Europe.
During the 1870s to the late 1970s, the state authority enacted a majority of rules restricting or prohibiting the entry of specific populations, as the US remained dedicated to controlling the type of foreigners joining the American society. For example, immigrants from China were accused of inferiority, being ineligible for citizenship in the United States, and damaging the economy and morality through low-wage work and immoral habits like prostitution. In 1875, California’s anti-Chinese campaign prompted Congress to approve the Page Act, which prohibited the immigration of convicted felons, and women trafficked “for prostitution,” a restriction aimed primarily at Chinese women (Gerber and David 1804). The Chinese Exclusion Act was approved by parliament in May 1882, prohibiting all Chinese workers from entering the country and rendering them the primary group of immigrants to face entrance restrictions based on race (Gerber and David 1807). The act made the Chinese become the first of many to prohibit immigrants.
Additionally, the Atlantic seaboard states aided in the formulation of federal policy on immigration. The regulation prevented shipmasters from landing poor immigrants unless they pre-paid stipulated sums of money for the travelers’ maintenance. Congress established the Immigration Act in August 1882, prohibiting admittance of persons who were unable to sustain themselves or those who may otherwise jeopardize the nation’s safety, such as peasants, people with mental diseases, or convicted felons (Gerber and David 1787). Immigration from eastern and southern Europe, like Italians, Greeks, and Jews, sparked calls for stricter controls on immigration. According to Goodman and Adam, the Gentlemen’s Agreement, signed by the Japanese and American governments in 1907, effectively halted the flow of Japanese laborers into the United States (93). The report blamed them for everything from poverty to crime to prostitution to political extremism, which focused on their claimed fundamental inferiority.
Imperialism has, in a way, affected the application of asylum to the United States. The application process was made challenging to curb immigrants from entering the country. Efforts were made to make the lives of asylum seekers more complex to discourage them from applying. Detainees were ordered to live in jail while their petitions were being reviewed, and some applicants were barred from working. As a result, the number of illegal deportations of unsuccessful applicants had risen.
The Positive Impact of Imperialism
On a positive note, in recent years, imperialism has led to enacting liberal immigration policies towards skilled workers and international students who have been asked to stay, learn, and work within their area of choice. As a result, the immigration of highly qualified workers is now a priority for nearly every nation, both for their vital capabilities and as a way to attract and retain foreign investment. In addition, some low-productivity agricultural industries rely on legal foreigners in the United States, and decreasing their number could have serious economic effects in the regions where they reside.
Conclusion
To conclude, imperialism directly influenced how immigration and immigration policy were shaped, as evidenced by the previous historical events. Although colonialism, to an extent, showed a picture of racial discrimination in the United States, it is arguable enough that it did create employment opportunities for immigrants. Additionally, ending support for oppressive regimes and international socioeconomic policies that promote greater inequality and inhibit the prosperity of developing countries will also diminish the incentives on many immigrants to flee and seek asylum.
Works Cited
Goodman, Adam. The Deportation Machine. Princeton University Press, 2020.
Gerber, David A. American Immigration: A Very Short Introduction. Very Short Introductions, 2021.