The Impact of immigration, 1917-80

NATURE OF, AND RESPONSE TO, IMMIGRATION IN THE 1920S

Dillingham Report 1911 - Said that immigration was beginning to pose a serious threat to US culture/society.

Old Immigrants - Western Europe, adapted to the US way of life.

New Immigrants - South/East Europe, racially inferior, not adapting to US way of life.

Findings used to justify 1920s Immigration Acts.

Post-war immigration legislation - focused on Europe/Asia, did not apply to South America.

Causes/ reasons for it:

  • Post-war isolationism
  • Dillingham report.
  • First red scare
  • Spike in unemployment
  • Increased hostility to immigrants, communists, Catholics (posed a threat to WASPS).

1921 Emergency Quota Act:

  • Limits annual immigrants to 3% of people from that country living in USA.

1924 Immigration Act- Limited annual number of immigrants to 150,000.

1929 National Origins Act - Bans Asian immigrants.

Impact of Immigration.

% foreign born or with foreign-born parents in urban areas: 74% (1910) to 85% (1920).

Rapidly expanding urban areas: immigrants would create competition for jobs, housing and other facilities.

1920s legislation meant that there were very little European/Asian immigrants.

Immigration from South America increased to fill the need for cheap labour in states such as California in things such as mining.

IMPACT ON URBAN LIFE, 1919-41

Some immigrants were official immigrants, others crossed the border illegally, but the high demand for workers meant that employers didn't ask many questions.

Employers exploited 'illegal' immigrants using deportation fears, paying them little, bad conditions.

GD caused Americans to migrate towards California to find work, which led many immigrants to be deported. Around 400,000 Mexicans deported during GD.

In some cities, immigration was a significant factor in their growth.

Immigrants tended to go to cities that already had immigrants from their place of origin.

E.g. NY - Ellis Island

Lots of urban areas broke down into separate districts for ethnic groups (informally segregated).

Had the country of origin's

  • shops
  • religious practices
  • Newspapers.

E.g. Little Italy or China town.

As the years passed and more foreign-born immigrants had American children, their old country's traditions became less important.

1914: 1300 foreign language newspapers in USA
1960s: Only 75.

Employment e.g. Detroit (FORD HQ):

  • Mass production led to high car ownership, creating a high demand for workers.
  • Most workers were from eastern Europe.
  • Had a large immigrant labour force.
  • Number of kids born in USA whose parents were foreign-born immigrants was adding to the population
  • These kids were more integrated into the US way of life - encouraged to get an education and work hard.

Newest arrivals had worst jobs, pay, living conditions.

Immigrants had an influence in politics because of their numbers:

  • During GD, many supported FDR
  • Republican ideals hit urban areas the hardest - as growing industry meant more immigrants getting exploited.

IMPACT OF WW2 ON IMMIGRANTS

Americans of Italian, German, and Japanese decent were increasingly seen as enemy aliens as a result of the US entering war.

As the war progressed, the attitudes towards these 'enemy' immigrants worsened

Japanese treated the most harshly (due to Pearl Harbour). Pearl Harbour led to about 80,000 Japanese US citizens to be imprisoned.

GOVT POLICY AND ITS CONSEQUENCES

1952 Immigration and Nationality Act:

  • Upheld the quota system of 1924.
  • Did not allow refugees (became a problem during cold war for people fleeing communism).

As Cold War started, the USA wanted to help 'save' people from communism. This led them to passing refugee acts, which allowed a set number of refugees into the USA (outside of the quota system).

USA struggled coping with large numbers of refugees, e.g. when Castro seized power in Cuba in 1959. Over the next 3 years, 200,000 Cubans fled to the USA.

Asian Immigrants:

  • First 5 years after the 1965 act, Asian immigration quadrupled.
  • Vietnam war responsible for a lot of Asian immigration.
  • After the war ended in 1975, the USA took 130,000 Vietnamese as refugees.
  • As communism spread, the USA passed more legislation to take in more refugees.

JFK against the quota system and pressed congress to remove it. He worked on a new law to abolish quotas, which got passed by congress, with the help of LBJ, in 1965.

Immigrants from Central/ South America:

  • Immigration laws didn't apply to these people.
  • Operation Wetback: attempt to deport illegal Hispanic immigrants from Southern/Western states.
  • Number of Hispanic immigrants in the country working in the cities became a serious concern for the govt.
  • 20,000 limit put in place in 1976 to try and slow it down.
  • But, it didn't stop people from coming, people just illegally crossed the border.

Illegal Immigrants:

  • Average of 60,000 Mexicans illegally immigrating in 1970s.
  • 1970s: 1/3 of jobs created in LA taken by Mexicans.
  • 1980: 1 million illegal immigrants deported.
  • Policing the border was expensive, and the issue became more pubic in political debates over the cost.
  • This meant more people were likely to see illegal immigrants as a significant problem

Shifting attitudes to immigrants:

  • Attitudes shifted with govt policy.
  • RW govts more likely to want to restrict immigration, Liberal politicians more accepting.
  • As many people became more conservative in the 60s, they began to think that immigrants were destroying US culture.
  • Bad economy 1970s: people more likely to react against immigrants as they were seen as a drain on the economy.
  • 1980: Attitudes had shifted towards controlling and restricting immigration.