The United States of America has commonly been referred to as a nation of immigrants. Close to 60 million people are immigrants or are the children of immigrants. For them, according to Charles Hirschman, immigration policy is not an abstract ideology but a means of family reunification and an affirmation that they are part of the “American dream.”
On the other side, there are Americans who are opposed to a continuation of large scale immigration. Many opponents of immigration are old stock Americans who have forgotten their immigrant ancestors. They often live in small towns or in suburban areas, and many have relatively little contact with immigrant families in their neighborhoods, churches, and friendship networks. They fear that newcomers with different languages, religions, and cultures are reluctant to assimilate to American society and to learn English (Hirschman, 2006).
The mainstream news media often cites examples of industries that seek out low cost immigrant workers to replace native born workers. Some sectors, such as harvesting vegetables and fruits in agriculture, have very few native born Americans seeking jobs in them, but immigrants are also disproportionately employed in many other sectors, including meatpacking, construction, hospitals, and even in many areas of advanced study in research universities. These examples serve as ammunition for politicians and talking heads who seek to exploit America’s fears (Hirschman, 2006).
Immigration’s first impact is demographic. 70 million immigrants have arrived since 1820 when formal records were documented. They are responsible for the majority of the contemporary American population. Most Americans have acquired a sense of historical continuity from America’s founding, but this is primarily the result of socialization and education, not descent (Hirschman, 2006).
Much of the historical debate over the consequences of immigration has focused on immigrant origins. Early in the 20th century when immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe was at its highest, many Americans sought to preserve the traditional image of the country as one primarily composed of descendants from Northwest European English Protestants. The American population has, however, always been much more diverse than the “Anglo-centric” image of the 18th century (Hirschman, 2006).
Each new wave of immigration to the United States has met with some degree of hostility. In 1751, Benjamin Franklin complained about the Germanization of Pennsylvania. Throughout the 19th century, Irish and German Americans, especially Catholics, who now would be considered white, were not considered to be fully American in terms of culture or status (Hirschman, 2006).
In May 1844, in an Irish suburb of Philadelphia, there were three days of rioting which culminated in the burning of two Catholic churches and other property. This case was one of many during the 1840s and 1850s showcasing the “Know Nothing Movement” (Hirschman, 2006).
The hostility of “native” Americans to “foreigners” grew in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The main element of this Nativist ideology was the belief in the superiority of the Anglo-Saxon “race”. This belief and immigration restriction garnered support from the “well-educated” elite. The Immigration Restriction League was founded in 1894, advocating literacy test to ebb the tide of immigration. Literacy test were suppose to reduce immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe. This is where the “illiterates, paupers, criminals, and madmen who endangered American character and citizenship” were born (Hirschman, 2006).
Cities, where most immigrants settled, were feared as places filled with dangerous people and radical ideas. These sentiments were often formulated by intellectuals, but they resonated with many white Americans of lesser education. While some reformers, such as Jane Addams, went to work to alleviate the many problems of urban slums with Hull House, others such as Henry Adams, the descendant of two American presidents, supported nativism (Hirschman, 2006).
From the 1880s to the 1920s, a campaign was mounted to stop immigration from eastern and southern Europe. In the early decades of the 20th century the study of Eugenics was used to prove the inferiority of immigrants as compared to “pure breed” Americans (Hirschman, 2006).
Today the immigration debate continues. The immigrants who take the brunt of America’s ire today no longer come across oceans but come across borders. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are currently more than twenty million people of Mexican origin in the U.S. In the 1990s, more legal immigrants came from Mexico than from all the European countries combined. In addition, immigration has become more permanent, as a greater percentage of Mexican immigrants have chosen to stay in their new home (Beyond, 2005).
There are 8.5 million Mexican-born people in the United States, three million of whom are undocumented. About 300,000 Mexicans come to settle permanently in the United States each year, half of whom are undocumented. The Mexican immigrant population is highly concentrated, with 78 percent living in just four states, and nearly half living in California alone (Beyond, 2005).
In October 1994, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) launched Operation Gatekeeper to crack down on people entering the country through San Diego, California (Beyond, 2005). It hasn’t stopped there. Fourteen miles of new border fencing are being constructed along the border between Otay Mesa and the Pacific Ocean. The original border fence was used to stop smugglers from driving across the border with narcotics and illegal immigrants. The new fencing is being made to prevent "backpackers" from carrying drugs into the U.S. and will supposedly stop illegal immigration (Follow, 2007).
Mexican Americans now live in all regions of the country and can be found in most professions and trades. The greatest impact of Mexican immigration, though, may be its contribution to the growing Latin American influence on the everyday life of all Americans (Immigration, 2005). From the use of piñatas at birthday parties and salsa on the dinner table Mexican traditions have eased into American culture. Government projections show that, by the next two generations, more than 25 percent of the U.S. population will be of Latin American origin. The nation's clothing, music, architecture, literature, and food have all been influenced by our growing Latin and Mexican American populations ( Immigration,2005).
American English has been most profoundly affected by immigration from Mexico and other Spanish-speaking nations. More people in the U.S. speak Spanish than ever before, and many find it a great advantage to speak more than one language (Immigration, 2005).
While it is not possible to predict the role of immigration in America’s future, it is instructive to study the past. The current debates and hostility surrounding immigrants echo throughout American history. What is most surprising is that almost all popular fears about immigration and even the judgments of “experts” about the negative impact of immigrants have been proven false by history. Not only have almost all immigrants assimilated over time, but they have enriched American society.
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