Change Your World Week Winter 2024 (Archived)

Ever since the 17th century, America has been home to millions of immigrants from many countries and countless cultures. Despite this, our government still had and has many policies in place that were not formed for the best interest of immigrants coming to America. This piece will explore the topics of unjust American immigration policies and how they affect immigrant populations in America, as well as how they spread prejudice among those indirectly affected by said policies. 

America was built upon racism and prejudice, dating all the way back to Christopher Columbus coming to the Americas. Essentially, his values were to strip the Natives on the land of their cultural identity and reform them to Christianity. In reality, he was extremely disrespectful and violent to Natives. There are many accounts of his violence in detail, including how he murdered countless Native Americans in various and especially cruel methods and gave Native women to his men as sex slaves. Despite this, he was pardoned when he returned to Spain from his third conquest and allowed to go on a fourth voyage. Despite not even stepping foot on American soil, Christopher Columbus has been hailed as the one who discovered it and has credit for instituting the idea of racial superiority in our country, although, thankfully, these days many people are aware and acknowledge the truth and dark history of Columbus. 

There have also been many unjust immigration policies and treatment toward immigrants of color throughout American history, but we will touch on the major ones, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act and the Mexican Repatriation during 1929-1935.

The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was the first major law that prevented immigration to America and was a response to job competition. Many White Americans felt as if Chinese American laborers were taking up the spaces of all of their jobs, and the government responded with a 10 year ban on all Chinese immigration (excepts for a select few in special positions). This act was the first to officially institute the idea that Asians were a danger to American life and society that was already built. Even to this day, we can see the effects of this law in our country.

The Mexican Repatriation of 1929-1935 was also a response to job competition during the Great Depression. Since jobs were especially scarce during this time period along with an influx of Mexican immigrants, the easy way out was to blame them for the scarcity of available jobs despite the fact that it was mainly due to the stock market crash, bank failures, and various harmful government policies. Due to this, a large portion of citizens of Mexican descent (numbers range from 300,000 to 2 million) were deported to Mexico. Oftentimes, the government deported those who were born on American soil and were not immigrants. This act was a major setback to America, as not only did it increase prejudice and hatred against Mexicans in America, but it harmed the economy even more due to the fact that such a large number of the population was deported within a time period less than a decade. 

Explain how in recent years, an alarming amount of unreasonable and unjust immigration policies have been put in place

Discuss how Donald Trump’s administration increased the ideas of prejudice among his supporters, such as xenophobia and racism, and how his policies previously put in place still affect those that are being put into place today 

How politics are frequently chosen over basic humanity

Discuss the negative effects of the unjust policies and how immigrant populations react to them 

Discuss the generational component of immigration, for eg. those who are 2nd generation or 3rd generation immigrants/citizens and how they are affected by the policies despite the fact that they were born in America 

Discuss the phenomenon of people of certain ethnic descents supporting these policies and how they assimilate into an entirely different culture while disowning their own.

Destigmatize the concept of immigrants in America with educating oneself about the topic 

Advocate and vote for fair and just immigration policies 

Listening to and attempting to understand those who have been subject to xenophobia 

Support organizations that support immigrant populations and fair immigration policies

Massey, D. S. (2020). The Real Crisis at the Mexico-U.S. Border: A Humanitarian and Not an Immigration Emergency. Sociological Forum, 35(3), 787-805. https://doi-org.ezproxy.delta.edu/10.1111/socf.12613

Everett Marko, D. (2019). Nevertheless, They Persist: American and European Muslim Immigrants in the Era of Trump. Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 39(2), 246-258. https://doi-org.ezproxy.delta.edu/10.1080/13602004.2019.1620006

Sabharwal, M., Becerra, A., & Oh, S. (2022). From the Chinese Exclusion Act to the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Historical Analysis of "Otherness" Experienced by Asian Americans in the United States. Public Integrity, 24(6), 535-549. https://doi-org.ezproxy.delta.edu/10.1080/10999922.2022.2120292

Allen, R., & Goetz, E. G. (2021). A home for xenophobia: U.S. public housing policy under Trump. International Journal of Housing Policy, 21(1), 127-137. https://doi-org.ezproxy.delta.edu/10.1080/19391247.2020.1803533