History of American Immigration Policies

Every time I hear, "We are a nation of immigrants but we are also a nation of laws", I wonder do these people know the history of immigration and immigration laws in our country? What immigration law are they really proud of? I think these are deliberate statements to mislead people who have no clue about the racist nature of our legal immigration. Legal immigration till about 1965 can be summarized in two simple words, Whites only - or at least - Whites preferred.

The first Immigration Act came immediately after the Constitution was written and was signed into law by George Washington. The act very simply states that only free Whites can immigrate and become citizens. All others were excluded. Immigration laws placed non-whites among “convicts, lunatics, idiots and persons likely to become public charges" who were the other class of people denied immigration and naturalization. It is hard to believe that the founding father’s who wrote "All men are created equal" in the Declaration of Independence and “Naturalization must be uniform” in the Constitution, can immediately turn around and make such a racist unconstitutional act. What then they really meant by “men”, only they know.

Almost a hundred years later, you would expect things to get better, people to get wiser, but the Chinese Exclusion Act passed in 1882 went completely the other way. It not only denied Chinese naturalization which was already denied but prohibited them from even entering the country. The people here did not have to leave, but government sponsored seclusion of these people not only effectively kept them from their “American” dreams but several Chinese were slaughtered in Los Angeles and the perpetrators were hardly prosecuted or even charged. Further, White women married to Chinese lost their citizenship and Chinese men living here could not bring their Chinese wives. So in effect, the congress had passed an act not just of exclusion but also of elimination.

Fast forward another 50 years, did things change? No. In the case of Takao Ozawa v United States, the Supreme Court had ruled that a light-skinned native of Japan could not count as "White", because "White" meant "Caucasian". Later, in the case of United States v Bhagat Singh Thind (1923), an Indian was denied citizenship and the same Supreme Court ruled that even though anthropologists classified Indians as Caucasians, common knowledge is that Indians are not White and so cannot be given citizenship. What a bunch of phonies! Since then the Census board has had a tough time classifying Indians. They refuse to classify them as White, later classified them as Hindus and now classify Indians as Asians. Asian is one race that has not been in India! Indians are mainly descendants of the Aryan race and are Caucasoid. Only in America, Indians are classified as Asians to keep them non-white.

Only recently, after almost 200 years since the creation of the nation, the Immigration Act of 1965 abolished racial limitations on Immigration and Naturalization. Emanuel Celler, a congressman from New York had to work a lifetime to get a fair immigration law passed. Kennedy and Johnson saw the wisdom in supporting it. Most of this was possible due to the Civil rights movement and so new immigrants owe a great deal of thanks to Martin Luther King Jr. Now, when Black people oppose Latino immigration or see racial profiling fit at airports, I am certain he weeps in his grave.

Several people who were influential in the periods of racist immigration laws are still alive and have ears that listen to them. There are others like Lou Dobbs who in the name of supporting the middle class speak as Dennis Kearney did in the Chinese Exclusion days promoting so much hatred against Latin Americans by blaming every thing that goes wrong in the nation on illegal immigration. To the people who say, “My ancestors came in legally, so should they”, now know that they simply could not. All your ancestors needed were not to be lunatic and carry 50 cents! Finally, to the presidents who are going around apologizing in Africa and Vietnam for past evils, an apology is overdue at home.