Immigration to the United States

By: Jacob Bagley and Victor Saha

Outline
Immigration: the movement of a group of people

into a non-native region

By this definition, everyone in America is an Immigrant in

some way

Our primary focus: 1776 to present day

(Routes of First Americans)

Pre 1776
America consisted of Spanish, British, and French

Colonies

There were also settlements of German and Dutch

Most immigrants were already citizens of a

European Nation

Migrated to respective colonies

(French and Indian War)

Post 1776
Creation of the United States led to new regulations
Naturalization Act of 1790, 1795, 1798, 1802
Page Act of 1775
First Immigration Law
Prohibited entry of undesirables

Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882

First Law to exclude a nationality
Halted all legal immigration of Chinese laborers

1882 Immigration Act

Prohibited entry of undesirables

Forced Immigration
Slavery
600,000 slaves were brought to America
By 1860, the slave population had grown to four million
International Slave Trade was stopped in 1808
Indentured servants
Many slaves were originally brought here as indentured
servants
occurred from the 1620s to 1900

Indentured Servant Contract

(Indenture Certificate)

Century of Immigration
1820-1920

Population rose from 9.6 million to 106 million

Over 30 million Europeans immigrated
Immigrants helped expand western frontier
Germans settling in Midwest after Louisiana Purchase
Gold Rush in California

Reasons for Immigration (1820-1920)

Industrial Revolution
Better labor conditions
More job opportunities
Poor living conditions in home countries
religious, ethnic and political persecution
Irish Potato Famine
Revolutions of 1848
Misconceptions about America

Map of Immigrants Obtaining U.S. Resident Status

PERSONS OBTAINING U.S. LEGAL PERMANENT RESIDENT STATUS
BY REGION AND SELECTED COUNTRY OF LAST RESIDENCE: 1820-2010

CANADA

EUROPE
ASIA
CARIBBEAN

MEXICO
CENTRAL AMERICA

AFRICA

WORLD TOTAL

1.9

(Histograms by region and

country are proportional to
the world total histogram.)
Data not available.

SOUTH
AMERICA

MILLIONS

OCEANIA
1.0

0.0
1820

1850

1900
1950
YEAR (color by decade)

2010

See notes for this map on pages 9 to 11.

Scale 1:95,000,000

Office of Immigration Statistics

Data source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

(World Immigration Map)

OFFICE OF POLICY

Map of European Immigrants Obtaining U.S.

Resident Status
PERSONS OBTAINING U.S. LEGAL PERMANENT RESIDENT STATUS
BY SELECTED COUNTRY OF LAST RESIDENCE IN EUROPE: 1820-2010
ICELAND (1857)
NORWAY (1856)
FINLAND (1861)

EUROPE TOTAL

1.2

(Histograms by country
are proportional to the
Europe total histogram.)
Data not available.

SWEDEN (1820)

RUSSIA (1820)
ESTONIA (1924)

UNITED KINGDOM (1820)

LATVIA (1924)

BELARUS
(1992)

DENMARK (1820)
LITHUANIA
(1924)

UKRAINE
(1992)

IRELAND (1820)
NETHERLANDS (1820)

MILLIONS

POLAND (1820)

CZECHOSLOVAKIA
(FORMER)
(1920)

BELGIUM (1820)
0.6

FRANCE (1820)

HUNGARY (1861)

AUSTRIA (1861)

GERMANY (1820)

ROMANIA (1880)

SWITZERLAND (1820)
YUGOSLAVIA
(FORMER)
(1920)
PORTUGAL (1820)

BULGARIA (1899)

ALBANIA
(1924)

SPAIN (1820)

ITALY (1820)

GREECE (1824)
MALTA (1823)

ITALY
(1820)

0.0
1820

1850

1900
1950
YEAR (color by decade)

2010

Country
Year of first record
of immigration

See notes for this map on pages 9 to 11.

Scale 1:24,000,000

Office of Immigration Statistics

Data source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

(European Immigration Map)

OFFICE OF POLICY

Number of New Immigrants per Year

(Annual Immigration to America 2010)

Problems with Immigration

Americans fear of being overrun by immigrants

Know Nothing Party

Anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant
Consisted of Protestant white males
Wanted to purify American Politics

Immigration in Media

(An American Tail)

(Identification)

America, The Melting Pot

The term Melting Pot slowly changed from being the area

everyone wanted to live in to more of a dumping ground for

immigrants
In more modern times, the term has changed from The Melting
Pot to being Tossed into the Salad Bowl.

(Schoolhouse Rock The Great American Melting Pot 2013)

Immigration: 1900 - 1920

Immigration via ports

Many restrictions
Beggars
Anarchists
People with defects
Children without parents
1917 Literacy test and ban of Asians

Immigration 1920 - 1940

1921 Quota Act
350,000 annual immigration cap
3% of each nationality
1924 National Origins Act
165,000 annual immigration cap
2% of each nationality
U.S. Border Patrol
1929 National Origins Act
150,000 annual immigration cap
70% North and West Europe, 30% South and West Europe

Immigration: 1940 - 1980

1952 McCarran - Walter Act
Any race is allowed in the USA
Can be denied based on political standing
1965 Immigration Act (Amended)
170,000 immigration cap for East Hemisphere
120,000 immigration cap for West Hemisphere
1978 Worldwide immigration cap becomes 290,000
1980 Refugee Act
On time of crisis, the president can allow refugees
Immigration cap becomes 270,000

Immigration: 1980 - Present

1982 Sanctions towards employers of illegal immigrants
1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act

540,000 immigration cap

Amnesty for illegal immigrants

1990 Immigration Act

700,000 immigration cap for 4 years, then 675,000

10,000 permanent visas given in agreement towards investment
Cannot be denied access because of political standing

1996 Immigration Act

More secure US/Mexico border

Legal immigrants lose benefits

The 9/11 attacks caused many more bills to pass for

security

Illegal Immigration
Main reason: Job Opportunities

In 2012, President Obama used Executive Action to

stop deportation of illegal immigrants

Allowed temporary work permits

11.2 million illegal immigrants (3.5% of population)

Mexicans make up 52% of illegal immigrants
Illegal immigrants make up 5.1% of the labor force

Illegal Immigration Population

(Unauthorized Immigrant Population 2008)

Interesting Facts on Immigration

Foreign born population is more than double of what

it was in the 1960s

The immigrant population is more diverse now than
it was in 1960
More female immigrants than male immigrants
Nearly 1 million LGBT adult immigrants
Immigrants are less likely to commit crimes in
comparison to native born Americans

US Immigration

Country of Birth

1981-85

1971-80

1961-70

1951-60

Europe/Canada

14.8%

20.4%

45.9%

70.2%

Latin America/Caribbean

32%

40.3%

39%

22.5%

Asia

48.4%

36.4%

13.4%

6.2%

Other

4.8%

2.8%

1.8%

1.1%

(U.S. Immigration in the 1980s 1989)

Ancestry in the United States Now

(Ancestry with the Largest Population in County 2010)

Changes in Citizenship past and present

Past: Go through a port and be granted citizenship

(View of Liberty Island)

Changes in Citizenship past and present

(Immigrant Crowd)

Changes in Citizenship past and present

Present: Many Methods:
Green card for at least five years followed by applying for
citizenship
Marrying a US citizen
Joining the military
Birth

(Airport Immigration)

Works Cited
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Bryant, Joyce. Immigration in the United States. Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute. Yale.edu, 1999. Web. 2 Nov. 2014.
Contact Singapore. Airport Immigration. Contact Singapore, 29 Apr. 2010. Jpeg File.
Daniels, Roger. Coming to America: A History of Immigration and Ethnicity in American Life. New York, NY: HarperPerennial, 1991.
Print.
Europe Immigration Map. Online Image. 2013. U.S. Department of Homeland Security. dhs.gov, 2013. Web. 27 October 2014.
French and Indian War. Map. Turning Points in US History. Socialstudies.com, 2004. Web. 5, Nov. 2014.
Greensburger. Indenture Certificate. English Servants Database, 27 Dec. 2007. Jpeg File
HeroMan220. An American Tail DVD Cover. 2007. Jpeg. anamericantail. Anamericantail.wikia, 14 Jan. 2014. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.
Identification. Online Image. 2010. PoliticalHumor.about. About.com, 2014. Web. 27 October 2014
Immigrant Crowd at Ellis Island. Save Ellis Island, 2010. Jpeg File.

Kessler, Glenn. Obama's Royal Flip-Flop on Using Executive Action on Illegal Immigration. 18 November 2014. 19 November 2014.
Krogstad, Jens Manuel and Jeffrey S Passel. 5 Facts about Illegal Immigration in the U.S. 18 November 2014. 18 November 2014.

Works Cited Continued

Passage to America, 1750. Eyewitness to History. Ibis Communications, 2000. Web. 30, Oct. 2014.
Population by Race in America. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2014.
Routes of First Americans. Map. Migration Theories. U of Texas, 2009. Web. 5 Nov. 2014.
Simcox, David. U.S. Immigration in the 1980s. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press Inc., 1988.
The Center for American Progress Immigration Team. "The Facts on Immigration Today." The Facts on Immigration Today. Center for American
Progress, 12 July 2012. Web. 01 Nov. 2014.
"The History of Immigration Policies in the U.S." NETWORK. A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby, n.d. Web. Oct.-Nov. 2014.
History.com Staff. "U.S. Immigration Before 1965." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2009. Web. 12 Oct. 2014.
TV Uber. Schoolhouse Rock- The Great American Melting Pot. Online Video Clip. Youtube. Youtube, 26 Feb. 2013. Web. 2 Nov. 2014.
Unauthorized Illegal Population. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2014.
U.S. Census Bureaeu, Census, and ACS. Ancestry with Largest Population in County. Digital image. Cooper Center Demographics, 2010. Web. 19

Nov. 2014.
View of Liberty Island and Ellis Island. Live Now, 2012. Jpeg.
World Immigration Map. Online Image. 2013. U.S. Department of Homeland Security. dhs.gov, 2013. Web. 27 October 2014.