Our Changing Times  Or What A Fence Used to Be

Stew Richland

Most of us are old enough to remember the song sung by Bing Crosby and the Andrew Sisters

Don't Fence Me In (1934)

Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies above

Don't fence me in

Let me ride through the wide open country that I love

Don't fence me in

Let me be by myself in the evenin' breeze

And listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees

Send me off forever but I ask you please

Don't fence me in

Just turn me loose, let me straddle my old saddle

Underneath the western skies

On my Cayuse, let me wander over yonder

Till I see the mountains rise

Well that’s how Americans viewed our nation at that time.  Many of the movies being produced were Western themed.  We had heroes like Tom Mix, Gene Autry and Bill Cody ( many of these six-gun toting  icons had handles such as “The Durango Kid,”  “Bronco Billy,” or the “Cisco Kid.”) riding the open range and catching the rustlers and preventing wars between the sod-buster and the cattle barons.  

American immigration history was based on the ideas expressed in lyrics of the song.  The government of the United States had millions of acres of land that they wanted settled.  The largest flow of  migrants to the U.S. occurred in 1849 when gold was discovered in California.  Thousands rushed to the west coast to seek the riches that were waiting for them to scoop up from the flowing streams.  Sadly most of those that wanted to get rich quick were quickly disappointed.  However, most of these dreamers remained in America and added their energies to make America a rich powerful nation. In the 1870’s Horace Greeley made popular the phrase  “Go West Young Man.”  Greeley was a great supporter of Westward expansion and shared the national conviction that it was the manifest destiny of America to conquer and civilize the land between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. By 1900 the government declared that there was no free land available for homesteading and our national immigration policies were under review.  In addition, the American industrial economy was exploding and the demand for cheap labor was on the rise.  The government saw vast trade potential in the Asian markets and their foreign policies reflected this view. 

These events were eventually going to impact our views on immigration. My purpose is to review American immigration policy and to provide a logical and rational reason why our government has rejected the “Don’t Fence Me In” policy to “Fences Make Good Neighbors.”

Time: Circa 1900’s. Place: New York harbor. Event: Ship carrying hundreds of immigrants from Eastern European ports of departure.  Place of embarkation: Ellis Island.  Process:  Immigrants embark ship and are sent to the Great Hall and eventually are required to line up to be processed.  American immigration personnel examine immigrant papers.  All those in line have legal documents, obtained from American government allowing the immigrants to enter the United States. During the vetting process, immigrants are asked if they have a sponsor.  Why?  Fear on  the part of the government that the new immigrants would become wards of the state.  When proof is shown or sponsor is present, immigrants move on to the medical exam line.  Any immigrant that is sick, or found to have communicable diseases are denied entry to the United States. Those rejected are sent back to nation of origin.  When healthy they can apply for re-admittance.  This was the process that those who desired to enter the United States followed.  Unfortunately for these Eastern European the government of the United States, changed the immigration laws. 

The Immigration Act of 1924 limited the number of immigrants allowed entry into the United States through a national origins quota. The quota provided immigration visas to two percent of the total number of people of each nationality in the United States as of the 1890 national census. It completely excluded immigrants from Asia.  The 1917 Immigration Act implemented a literacy test that required immigrants over 16 years old to demonstrate basic reading comprehension in any language. It also increased the tax paid by new immigrants upon arrival and allowed immigration officials to exercise more discretion in making decisions over whom to exclude.  The 1924 Immigration Act also included a provision excluding from entry any alien who by virtue of race or nationality was ineligible for citizenship. This meant that Asians, especially Japanese immigrants would not be allowed into the United States. 

End of Part One (please feel free to comment on my observations on this blog or on phyllisrichland.blogspot.com)

Our Changing Times – Why We Need a Fence

Stew Richland

One of the major concerns to the government of the United States is the issue of immigration.  There are laws in place that provide for a process that allows citizens from other nations to enter the U.S. legally.  We are all familiar with the “Green Card” issue. Those immigrants that receive a green card are allowed to enter the U.S. for a limited time and then must leave by the expiration date of their visa.  However, many of the “Green Card” holders did  not leave.  These people disappeared into the underbelly  of American society. Most of these “Green Carders” have a solid grasp of the language it become very easy for them to blend into society and disappear.  There is very little evidence available to support the idea that “Green Card” holders have become criminals. However, they are breaking the rules by which they were allowed into the country and thus must be held accountable for their actions. 

Based on the current immigration laws of the United States, citizens of other nations are allowed to enter our country legally with the proviso that after a period of time, taking courses on government and history, providing proof that they will obey our laws can apply for U.S. citizenship.  Many of our T.V. stations often filmed the citizenship swearing in ceremonies and interviewed these new citizens.  That is the way you become an American citizen.

Historians that study immigration and movement of peoples tell us that there two basic concepts that motivate people to leave their birth homeland.  This concept is known as the “Push – Pull” theory. Migration can be defined as a form of relocation diffusion (the spread of ideas, innovations, behaviors, from one place to another) involving permanent move to a new location. The reasons that people migrate would be due to push and pull factors. Push and Pull factors are forces that can either induce people to move to a new location or oblige them to leave old residences; they can be economic, political, cultural, and environmentally based. Push factors are conditions that can drive people to leave their homes, they are forceful, and relate to the country from which a person migrates. A few example of push factors are: not enough jobs in your country; few opportunities; "Primitive" conditions; desertification ; famine/drought ; political fear/persecution ; poor medical care; loss of wealth; and natural Disasters. Pull factors are exactly the opposite of push factors; they are factors that attract people to a certain location. Examples of these push factors are job opportunities; better living conditions; political and/or religious freedom; enjoyment; education; better medical care; and security. To migrate, people to a new land they must feel it is  so attractive that they feel pulled toward it.

Forced migration is another factor to be considered when evaluating the issues of migration.  Forced international migration has historically occurred for two main cultural reasons: Slavery and political instability. Some reasons for this are:

1.   Forced international migration increased because of political instability resulting from cultural diversity.

2.  Wars also forced large-scale migration of ethnic groups in the 20th century especially in Europe, the middle east, and some regions of Africa.

3.  There are people who have been forced to migrate from their home and cannot return for fear of persecution because of their race, religion, nationality, and possibly their membership in a social group and political organization, these are known as refugees. Cultural push factors include political instability from cultural diversity.

4.  Boundaries of newly independent states often have been drawn to segregate two ethnic groups.

One other category to consider are refugees.  Historically the U.S. has opened their doors to refugees fleeing Nazi persecution.  However, it is interesting to note that only refugees that were considered high priority were given exit visas by American state department officials.  Famous writers, poets, actors, scientists were on the top of the priority list.  Sadly for the Jews fleeing extermination, Roosevelt and his top advisors had little interest in issuing entrance visas for this group. 

After World War II, with the discovery of the death camps, the U.S. opened their doors to a limited number of holocaust survivors. 

When the Vietnam War ended many of those Vietnamese citizens that had helped Americans in the war were left to their fate under the North Vietnam communist regime.  Eventually American policy recognized what was happening to those who helped us in the war and opened our doors to a limited number of refugees.  This group was commonly known as the “Boat People.”

Under President Kennedy’s administration there was an attempt to overthrow the Castro regime in Cuba.  This effort failed and many Cuban nationals along with Cuban Americans were captured and thrown in jail.  As things began to get worse for all those Cubans who supported the invasion, American immigration officials adopted the “Wet Foot” policy that allowed Cuban refugees to enter the U.S. legally, if they placed a foot on American soil.

The issues I have covered deal with events that led to migrations of people to the United States.  Some groups came in fairly large numbers, others, due to the dangers and distance came to the U.S. in a small steady stream. The key concept here is that all these immigrants came to the United States legally.  There were no protests, marches, anti-government demonstrations for or against these tragic souls from entering our country.  The one specific they all had in common was that they had legal status.

My next installment will deal with specific immigration laws and why they were passed.

I value any comments on my articles and please feel free to post them on the blog you are reading it on or on phyllisrichland.blogspot.com