Politician’s against Immigration is it new?

Politician’s against Immigration is it new?

My most intriguing findings while researching Ellis Island has been the similarity between politicians in 1880 and the fight we now face in our immigration system in the 21^st century. Between 1880 and 1924 politicians and natives were not pleased with the high volume of immigrants being granted access in the United States and as a result the fight for multiple regulations and immigration laws were being forced, laws such as the Chinese Exclusion Act, the Alien Contract Labor Law and the institution of a literacy test. These all came about not only by politicians but also by the earlier immigrants who came to the US through these very same immigration channels but thought themselves superior to the immigrants entering the US from southern and eastern Europe during 1900’s. These reoccurring signs are now haunting us, as we face newly forced immigration laws such as building a wall to keep out Mexicans from entering the US and even closing our gates to refugees like Syrian kids facing persecution and hunger in their country from seeking refugee status in the here. The Chinese Exclusion Act, shares grave similarity to the Trump Travel ban blocking entry from six Muslim countries. The fact that as Americans we can all trace our ancestors entry into this country through some immigration port or the other but we still find it ok to see ourselves superior to the immigrants seeking a better life in the United States makes us just the same as the Southern and Western Europeans in the 1900’s. I was surprised to see that United States is facing these same immigration situations again after so many centuries.

Work Cited

Copyright Agent/ Tolentino Thomas “Ellis Island History”   https://libertyellisfoundation.org/ellis-island-history