Immigration

Ya know, I’m about as sick as I can get with people bitching and moaning about illegal immigrants. They go on and on about how they come here and steal our jobs….blah, blah, blah. The same arguments that they used when the Irish and the Italians immigrated here. But they save their ire for those coming from south of the border, with the brown skin.

No one says anything if someone happens to come into this country from Europe and doesn’t have a legal right to be here. Because the ones that are doing all of the bitching don’t want anymore brown people here, in my opinion.

And do they consider how many foreigners are doing American jobs, in their own countries. Of course not. You don’t hear as much bitching about the customer service reps that live in India and answer calls from American consumers. Where are the boycotts of Wal-Mart for selling foreign made products? Ha! Some of these people that go on and on about illegal immigration do so while standing in line at the local Wally World. Gotta love the hypocrisy.

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Chinese immigration

an excerpt:

By the early 1870s, the Gold Rush “boom” had turned into a “bust.” Tens of thousands of East Coast laborers, traveling westward on the very railroad system built by the Chinese, faced an economy in decline and fierce competition for jobs. The Chinese, once welcomed for their work ethic and valuable contribution to the work force, were now blamed for lowering wages, employment opportunities, and working conditions of all laborers.

Long-held racial, cultural, and religious prejudices were unleashed on the so-called “heathen Chinee.” Inclined to maintain the customs, rituals, beliefs, and lifestyle of their homeland, the Chinese were accused of being unable or unwilling to assimilate into American society. Public sentiment and organized labor began to advocate for restrictions on the activities of Chinese and changes in the immigration laws. In response, politicians eventually passed over 600 ordinances and laws against Asians throughout the United States. They ranged from local ordinances intent on petty harassment, to extremely mean-spirited and harmful state laws aimed at the very livelihood and civil rights of Chinese in America. Anti-Chinese sentiment escalated into violence, whereby Chinese residents and laborers were forcibly evicted from towns and work camps. In some cases, the Chinese were attacked and killed.

…..The Chinese Exclusion Act was finally passed by Congress in 1880, and signed into law by President Arthur on May 5, 1882. It suspended the immigration of Chinese laborers for ten years. In 1892, and again in 1902, it was extended for additional ten-year periods each. In 1904, the act was amended to run perpetually. For the first time in American history, immigration into the United States was denied on the basis of race and class. Chinese now joined the ranks of imbeciles, paupers, prostitutes, and felons as official “undesirables.”

Short essay on Japanese Immigration

Irish Immigration

an excerpt:

Religious Conflict and Discrimination

Ill will toward Irish immigrants because of their poor living conditions, and their willingness to work for low wages was often exacerbated by religious conflict. Centuries of tension between Protestants and Catholics found their way into United States cities and verbal attacks often led to mob violence. For example, Protestants burned down St. Mary’s Catholic Church in New York City in 1831, while in 1844, riots in Philadelphia left thirteen dead.

Anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic sentiments in the 1840s produced groups such as the nativist American Party, which fought foreign influences and promoted “traditional American ideals.” American Party members earned the nickname, “Know-Nothings,” because their standard reply to questions about their procedures and activities was, “I know nothing about it.”

In the Questions for Admittance to the American Party (1854), inductees committed to “…elect to all offices of Honor, Profit, or Trust, no one but native born citizens of America, of this Country to the exclusion of all Foreigners, and to all Roman Catholics, whether they be of native or Foreign Birth, regardless of all party predilections whatever.” This commitment helped elect American Party governors in Massachusetts and Delaware and placed Millard Fillmore on a presidential ticket in 1856.

It seems that things haven’t changed much in this country.

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