400 Years of Immigration: New Ethnicities, Popular

Reaction, and Policy: 1607 to 2007

1900

Brian Gratton, Arizona State University, 2007All Copyrights Reserved for Brian Gratton. Do not use without permission.

New Ethnicities:

Four Critical Periods: volume rose sharply & ethnic mix changed dramatically

-1st 1740-1760

-2nd 1840-1860, 1870-1890

-3rd 1900-1914, 1918-1921

-4th 1965--

Popular Reaction

• At times neutral, at times hostile, never enthusiastic, the American people have consistently opposed higher levels of immigration

• When in favor, natives have generally called for assimilation to “American norms”

• Still, there is a strain of multiculturalism dating at least to the 19th century

Policy:

Largely ignores popular opinion

……But, there are exceptions

HST554

Phase 1: 1740—1770

The Religious, The Greedy, and the Unwilling

Englishmen and Africans

Africans leave Africa, But NOT Freely

Slave caravan in Africa

Slave ship on the Middle Passage

HST554

Phase 2: 1840-1860, 1870—1890

the Catholic Threat

Germans and Irish

Scandinavians

Family, Farming, Factory

German Immigrants and Prosperity: New Ulm, Minnesota

Irish as Exiles:Impoverished--slow mobility

Phase 3: 1900—1914, 1918-1921:

European Europeans and Worse

• Southern and Eastern Europe• Industrialization’s Lure• Remigration• RESTRICTION!

Here they come, straight from Southern and Eastern Europe…

Thomas Edison Film, 1903

Phase 4: 1965 to 2007…The Gates Reopen

• Latin Americans

• Asians

• Illegal Immigration

•Vietnamese in Ho Chi Minh city

•Asian next to Latin Americans in number

Asian Immigration: Refugees and Economic Migrants

Familiar scene but began during the Bracero guestworker program

Illegal Immigration from Mexico

Mexico – Guatemala Border

Latin Americans Struggle North, without papers

How Many and Who Are They?:

• Sharp changes in volume of immigrant flow and percent of U.S. population

• Sharp changes in ethnic origin

Real Data 1850 to 2006 Projections toward 2050

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

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0.25

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0.35

0.4

1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2007 2010 2020 2050

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2nd genera t ion

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Error in Estimation

Foreign Born, Their Children, and Total Foreign Origin

0%

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20%

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1880 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

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1st& 2 nd P erio ds

Immigrants by Period—Change in Ethnic Mix

1st & 2nd: British, African, German, Irish 3rd: Eastern & Southern Europe 4th: Asians and Latinos

Popular Reaction:1607 to 2007

• Positive: employers, national elites, ethnic groups affected, multiculturalists

• Neutral and shifting: middle class groups

• Opposed: working class, African-Americans, native Hispanics, assimilationists, racists

Shift toward Opposition

• When level of immigration rises rapidly

• When ethnic mix in immigration changes

• When economy in US sours

• War or other national threat

Evidence Before Opinion Polls

• Regular Nativist Movements: politically powerful only in 1850s, 1905-1921, 2005--

• Positions taken by Unions and other organizations

• Rising Roll Call Votes in Congress for restriction

• Occasional direct evidence of popular view

* 1895, 1896, and 1897, survey of wage earners: 95% supported restriction or suppression; 60% of immigrant workers favored restriction, and 40% full suppression.

* The Chicago Defender, African American newspaper 1924: “… keep the immigration gates partly closed until our working class gets a chance to prove our worth ... With the average American white man's turn of mind, the white foreign laborer is given preference over the black home product. When the former is not available, the latter gets an inning.”

Direct Evidence

Positive and Negative Images of Immigrants

1900: Restrictionist Point of View

1865: Irish and Germans

1896: Jews and Italians

•

1888: A Positive View

Early multiculturalist perspective

1907: Life Magazine

Best Guesses before Current Period on Popular Opinion

• 1740-1760: Majority in Favor of Immigration, including African slaves

• 1840-1860/1870-1890: Majority in Favor of strong restrictions on Catholic Immigration

• 1900-1914/1918-1921: Overwhelming Majority in favor of restrictions on Europeans

• 1965: Small majority in favor of reopening the door

Current Popular Opinion

• Rising hostility toward level at which people vote on the issue.

• Ambiguity about which policy preferred.

• No ambiguity about illegal immigration and amnesty

S h ou ld L E G A L Im m ig ra tion b e....

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2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2006

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Very m uc h

S om ew hat

Not too m uc h

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Question differs in 2006, but 2007 Times poll confirms trend toward greater concern. Essential for voting patterns.

How much do you worry about

illegal immigration?

Amnesty for Illegal Immigrants?

August 2001

2006 poll on amnesty: Favorable 32%

Unfavorable 60%

2007 Poll on allowing resident illegals to become citizens--does not mention amnesty:

36% Favor 42% Could return 20% No

Ambiguity

• While amnesty is loathed, and other questions elicit near majorities (building a wall), letting those in line come first, employer sanctions (local or federal)

• Most polls show support of guestworker programs and even paths to citizenship for those already here

Policy: Four BIG Points

1. Parties make immigration policy in Congress.

2. Since 1800 the two parties, for different reasons, have supported immigration in the face of negative public opinion.

3. As hostility rises, the failure of the parties to respond leads to political revolt and extreme legislation

4. Such a divide exists today

Major Policy• 1607 to 1881: Open doors

• 1882: first exclusion of Asians

• 1921-1964: National Origins Acts: restricts European immigration. Only successful broad restriction

• 1965: Immigration Act: reopens immigration from all countries

• 2007?????

What Do the Parties Propose?

• Demo platform in 2004

• “Today's immigration laws do not reflect our values ….. Undocumented immigrants within our borders who clear a background check, work hard and pay taxes should have a path to earn full participation in America.”

Republican Platform 2004

• “A growing economy requires a growing number of workers, and President Bush has proposed a new temporary worker program …. This new program would allow workers who currently hold jobs to come out of the shadows and to participate legally in America’s economy”

Dissonance between Politicians and the Public

• Propositions in Arizona in 2006 —popular reaction to impasse with parties, using progressive democratic tools

• Grant Woods, Janet N., churches, professors, i.e., all the elites v. but 70+% of the public on every proposition

• Result: harsh legislation and politicians veering off into the stratosphere