Immigration Restrictions in American History Essay

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Introduction

Immigration was greatly argued about in the early 20th century in America. The opinions of politicians, scientists, and statesmen were opposite as some of them kept to the point of view that immigration was necessary for the development of American society, while others were convinced of the harmful and destroying impact of immigration. This paper focuses on both viewpoints in order to find out which of them was more objective and useful for America.

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In Favor of Immigration Restrictions

Considerable arguments were presented by American authors in respect of the necessity of the implementation of immigration restrictions. The majority of them were based on precise statistics and had strong factual support. For example, Prescott F. Hall brings his argument referring to the increase of crime rates in the country and to the fact that among the prisoners in different correctional facilities there are twice as many immigrants as natives. The need for cheap labor is denied by Hall who states that immigration can result in unemployment of natives and a consequent decline in birth rates in the US. Moreover, Robert DeC.

Ward develops this viewpoint making it racist to some extent. He speaks about the impossibility of creating a pure and strong race of inferior races mixed with natives: “We can not make a heavy draught-horse into a trotter by keeping him in a racing stable.” (Ward) Write, further on, presents the results of restrictions that were increased in wages and greater employment opportunities for racial minorities within American society, like African Americans of Mexicans. Fetter’s argument, as well as Mitchell’s one, is not so strict, as he admits the principle of open doors for the aliens in America but states that their expansion can destroy the wealth of native Americans.

Against Immigration Restrictions

However, immigration restrictions were supported not by all Americans. For instance, Warne develops a positive attitude towards immigrants and ponders upon the good they brought to the American economy, industry, culture, and society. Moreover, Kohler develops this point of view and talks about the assimilations that happened in American history. According to Kohler, that assimilation strengthened and improved the nation and should keep doing it in the future.

At the same time, Sulzberger considers the failure of all the past immigration restrictions and concludes that assimilation of native and immigrant races and taking the best from each other can be the way out for both America and Immigrants. Willcox continues the topic of education and dismantles the myth about the overall illiteracy of immigrants demonstrating that recently illiteracy is more often observed among natives. Bailey discloses the lack of need of restrictions as immigrants come to America when there is a demand of labor force and leave the country after the demand decreases.

Moreover, Horwich and Adams deny the connection between immigration and unemployment saying that its rates were higher when immigration was on the decline and vice versa. Finally, Abbott ponders on the issues of connection between crime increase and immigration and finds no evidence to prove this connection. According to Abbott, natives commit crimes more often than immigrants do, so this fear of society is not relevant.

Conclusion

To conclude, various points of view exist in regard to the issue of immigration. There are people who support its restrictions and those who protest against them. In any case, a rightful and democratic society can not be led by such ultimate principles and should look for consensus in respect of this problem.

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IvyPanda. (2021, September 28). Immigration Restrictions in American History. https://ivypanda.com/essays/immigration-restrictions-in-american-history/

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"Immigration Restrictions in American History." IvyPanda, 28 Sept. 2021, ivypanda.com/essays/immigration-restrictions-in-american-history/.

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IvyPanda. (2021) 'Immigration Restrictions in American History'. 28 September.

References

IvyPanda. 2021. "Immigration Restrictions in American History." September 28, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/immigration-restrictions-in-american-history/.

1. IvyPanda. "Immigration Restrictions in American History." September 28, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/immigration-restrictions-in-american-history/.


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IvyPanda. "Immigration Restrictions in American History." September 28, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/immigration-restrictions-in-american-history/.

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