Chapter 4 chain immigration refers to an immigrant who sponsors several other immigrants who on their arrival may sponsor still more o Most important aspect immigrants anticipate knowing someone who can help them adjust to the new surroundings and find a job place to live and foods that are familiar to them Patterns of Immigration to the United States o 1 The number of immigrants has fluctuated dramatically over time largely because of government policy changes o 2 Settlement has not been uniform across the country but centered in certain regions and cities Early Immigration o 3 Immigrants countries of origin have changed over time o End of 19th century American republic criticized for enacting immigration restrictions In the beginning immigration was encouraged Alien Act of 1798 naturalization was 14 years dangerous people could be expelled o Until 1870 naturalization was limited to free white persons o Early 1900s 35 of all immigrants emigrated back to home countries Xenophobia fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners led to nativism Nativism beliefs and policies favoring native born citizens over immigrants o Most dramatic outbreak of nativism in 19th century was aimed at the Chinese Sinophobes people with fear of anything associated with China and the threats they posed as laborers o Appealed to the racist theory developed during the slavery controversy o Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 Denied naturalization rights to Chinese in US Decline in legal immigration Restrictionist Sentiment Increases o The extension of restrictions from the anti Asian movement to European nationalities o 1908 The Gentleman s Agreement was signed Prodded by anti Japanese feelings Japan halted further immigration to US US agreed end discrimination of Japanese in US o Created two types of immigrants old and new New immigrants were seen as a threat to democracy and American culture o Quota System quotas were deliberately weighted to favor immigration from N Europe Placed severe restrictions on immigration from the rest of Europe and other parts of the world 3 of ethnic group from 1920 census Quotas went unfilled and immigration dropped Backlog in other countries The National Origin System The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act aka Hart Cellar Act o signed by Lyndon B Johnson o main goals reunite families and protect American labor market o Also initiated restrictions on immigration from Latin America o Immigration increased by 1 3 Contemporary Social Concerns o 1 Brain Drain o 2 Population Growth o 3 Mixed status o 4 English language acquisition o 5 Economic impact o 6 Illegal immigration brain drain immigration to the United States of skilled workers professionals and technicians who are desperately needed by their home countries o pulled many emigrants from developing nations o qualifies them for H 1B visas mixed status families families in which one or more members are citizens and one or more are non citizens o problematic when noncitizens are illegal and undocumented o macro level problems when policy debates are made about issues that seem clear to many people ex Illegal immigrants able to go to state colleges illegal immigrant deportation the complicating factor of mixed status families quickly emerges o Micro level problems daily toll on members of mixed status families is difficult fear Bilingualism use of two or more languages in places of work or educational facilities and accords each language as equal legitimacy bilingual education may instruct children in their native language while gradually introducing the dominant language of society The Economic Impact o Remittances Migradollars Money that immigrants return to their country Widely recognized as critical to the survival to millions of households worldwide States have sought legal redress because federal government has not seriously considered granting aid to heavily burdened states The Hispanic Dairyland o Large amount of immigrant workers Hispanic mostly Mexican have become majority of workers on dairy farms mainly in Wisconsin o Example of occupational segregation concentration of one group of people to a particular job Illegal Immigration o Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 more efforts to keep immigrants from entering the country illegally Greater border surveillance increased scrutiny of legal immigrants seeking benefits o Control of illegal or undocumented immigrants bitterly debated o Exact number of undocumented or unauthorized workers subject to estimates o Illegal and legal immigrants tied by public to almost every social problem in a nation Unemployment drug runners terrorists Path to Citizenship o 18 years of age o Continually resided in U S for at least 5 years o Have good moral character absence of conviction of selected criminal offenses o Be able to read write speak and understand words of ordinary usage in the English language o Pass a test in U S government and history administered orally in English Naturalization citizenship is conferred on a person after birth a process that has been outlined by congress and extends foreigners the same benefits given to native born citizens o Cannot become president Study Table 4 1 Immigration Benefits Provide needed skills Contribute to taxes May come w capital to start business Maintain growth of consumer market Diversity population Maintain ties with countries throughout the world Immigration Concerns Drain needed resources Send money home Less skilled immigrants compete with already disadvantaged citizens Population growth Language differences May complicate foreign policy by lobbying the government Illegal immigration Table 4 3 Policy Chinese exclusion Act 1882 Major Immigration Policies Target Group Chinese National Origin System 1921 Southern Europeans Immigration and Nationality Act 1965 Western Hemisphere and less skilled Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 Illegal Immigrants Illegal Immigrants Impact Effectively ended all Chinese immigration for 60 years Reduced overall immigration and reduced likely immigration from Greece and Italy Facilitated entry of skilled workers and relatives of U S Citizens Modest reduction of illegal immigration Greater border surveillance and increased scrutiny of legal immigrants seeking benefits Chapter 5 Studying Whiteness o Two aspects of whiteness 1 The historical creation of whiteness 2 How contemporary White people reflect on