The hard route to citizenship
By Laura Salinger
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Legislation promising to deliver historic immigration reform faced a major setback on the Senate floor in early June. The bill
was dubbed a "fragile compromise" between George W. Bush's conservative White House administration and congressional
Democratic leaders. A procedural motion to end two weeks of contentious debate over the bill and move it to a final vote,
however, failed to get the necessary 60 votes it needed to move forward. For the moment, immigration reform is once again at a
standstill.
While many agree that reform is necessary, the methods for achieving successful reform are hotly contested. From militia
vigilantes patrolling U.S. borders to those promoting the legalization of illegal immigrants already in the country, the issue has
proved divisive to an already divided country. The current reform bill seeks to provide concessions to interest groups across the
political spectrum, but has so far failed in its attempt to find middle ground.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of immigrants living in the U.S. as of 2004 topped 34 million. It is estimated
that 10 to 12 million immigrants are undocumented. From 1990 to 2000, the highest percentage of legally documented
immigrants (40%) were from Asia. As of 2000, 54% of the nation's undocumented immigrants were from Mexico.
The population most affected by the current immigration debate is the Latino population, which currently makes up over half of
the U.S.Â’s foreign-born population. But many ethnic groups have, at one time, shared in the spotlight. As new waves of
immigrants seek better opportunities within U.S. borders, they have often faced scrutiny from those once again striking up old
nativist battle cries.
While the U.S. is a country founded and formed by immigrants, our history is also marked by periods of intense fear and
distrust towards immigrant populations. While immigration policy has come a long way since the Naturalization Act of 1790,
which explicitly limited citizenship to "free white persons," many different ethnic groups have nonetheless been targeted by U.S.
immigration policy. Asian and Asian American populations have not escaped their time in the spotlight.
The Chinese were the first Asians to arrive in the U.S. in large numbers. Coinciding with the Gold Rush of the mid-1800s, the
Chinese population in the U.S. jumped from under 1,000 before 1848 to over 60,000 by 1870. Immigration laws soon followed.
The Naturalization Act of 1870 specifically excluded Chinese from citizenship and prohibited wives of Chinese laborers to enter
the country. The 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act specifically forbade Chinese immigration.
Meanwhile, increasing contact between the U.S. and Japan prompted many Japanese to head to areas like California and
Hawaii to work in agriculture. This population faced setbacks to citizenship in the United States as well. In the 1922 Supreme
Court case Ozawa v. United States, the court ruled against naturalization for a Japanese-born applicant, limiting citizenship to
"Caucasians." In 1923, when Indian immigrant Bhagat Singh Thind attempted to gain citizenship by arguing he was
"Caucasian," the Supreme Court changed the definition again, calling on the more widely accepted definition of White.
After the Spanish American War, the Philippines came under U.S. control in 1899, which prompted increased immigration
from this region. In 1902, the pensionado program was implemented and allowed Filipinos to study in the U.S. The Philippines
was one of a few exclusions in the 1917 Barred Zone Act, which denied entry to people in the barred zone of South Asia through
Southeast Asia. In 1934, however, the Tydings-McDuffie Act (an act created to set guidelines for Philippine independence from
the U.S.), limited Filipino immigration to a quota of 50 persons per year and Filipinos were reclassified as 'aliens.' Prior to this,
Alien Land laws were implemented in 1913, 1920, and 1923, prohibiting all Asian immigrants from owning land.
Asians in the U.S. gained a major victory in 1943 when the Magnuson Act lifted barriers to citizenship for most immigrants of
Asian origin and again in 1952 when the McCarran-Walter Act abolished the 1917 Asia Barred Zone. The Immigrant Act of 1965
established new criteria for immigrants, eliminating natural origins as the basis of immigration legislation.
Immigration from Asia increased in the latter part of the 20th century among countries like India and Pakistan. Following the
Vietnam War, more than 130,000 refugees fled from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos to arrive in the U.S. Meanwhile, populations
from other countries were increasing immigration to the U.S., as well.
Between 1965 and 1989, the U.S. grew by around 500,000 immigrants a year. In the 1990s, immigration levels doubled, with
approximately one million immigrants entering each year, the vast majority from Latin American countries.
While current immigration policy will certainly affect the Asian population in the U.S., a small percentage of which are
undocumented, it will have most of its impact among Latino immigrants. The current reform bill would overhaul immigration
laws and create an expanded "guest worker" program to alleviate pressure on the borders, while simultaneously increasing
border patrol man-power, and allow immigrant workers to temporarily work in the U.S. in jobs Americans "don't want." The bill
would also provide a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants already in the country. They would have to pay a fine,
learn English, pay taxes, and pass a background check before obtaining legal status.
While America must protect "it's own," so to speak, it's important to remember this is a country of immigrants who have all
contributed to the cultural makeup of a diverse country. History has revealed anti-immigrant sentiment in both immigration policy
and public sentiment against many different ethnic groups, the majority of which, given time and opportunity, have fully integrated
into the United States to become thoughtful, contributing members of this society.
Laura Salinger is a freelance writer based in Madison, Wis.