Discriminatory Laws
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Immigrants were alone coming from Europe in the mid to late 1800’s. There were people of Asian descent,
mainly Chinese arriving on the west coast as well. One of them includes Chin Tou who in 1865
emigrated from China. “He lived in San
Francisco but worked in Nevada and Colorado working as a foreman in mines.”[5] Chin worked hard in perusing the American
Dream and discovered gold in which he became financially well off. He sent some of his money to family in his
homeland like most immigrants did.
Eventually, scenes of race riots between Chinese and Whites created an
awkward environment for Chin and he did not see the America that he saw when
first arriving. Hostile environments were becoming more common for Chinese immigrants once more and more emigrated within the US. Eventually, the Chinese Exclusion Acts was passed in multiple fears from other citizens of the US thinking that the Chinese were taking their jobs away and were bringing too much of their culture with them. Some Chinese would challenge the acts like Wong Kin Ark, who were in situations where, “Since his birth, has had but one residence, to wit, in California, within the United States, and there resided, claiming to be a citizen of the United States, and has never lost of changed residence, or gained or acquired another residence.”[6] Although, for people like Ark, they may have been at the odd end of a disenfranchisement, yet they had the Fourteenth Amendment to use in their defense.
The Chinese Exclusion Act was just the tip of the iceberg when dealing with discriminatory laws against immigrants within the Federal Government. The Immigration Act of 1917 went even further in more topics such as careers that immigrants cannot obtain within the US. “The provision next forgoing, however, shall not apply to the persons of the following occupations: government officials, ministers, missionaries, lawyers, physicians, chemists, civil engineers, teachers, students, authors, artists, merchants, and travelers of curiosity or pleasure.”[7] Since some citizens thought that immigrants were taking away their manual labor jobs, the government now wanted to make sure that immigrants were not to obtain skilled labor jobs as well. It was a loose-loose situation for immigrants of those times.
As for the legal terminology in detail of immigration and the US, there has not been any more assurance in the past 150 years or so. The distinct legal lines to where an immigrant is a citizen or an alien are very specific in the sense that “citizenship is a divided concept.” [8] It comes down to a perceptualized image of legal citizenry with the fear of still having citizenship provoked, to the alien thinking of being deported. The mindset goes as described more to be that “there is no firm separation possible between the domains of citizenship at the border and citizenship within. Instead, the two domains are overlapping and interpenetrated in various respects.” [9] The legal defense of immigration has proven to be one of precise difficulty, yet it continues to fight on, even to present day and the unforeseeable future.
The Chinese Exclusion Act was just the tip of the iceberg when dealing with discriminatory laws against immigrants within the Federal Government. The Immigration Act of 1917 went even further in more topics such as careers that immigrants cannot obtain within the US. “The provision next forgoing, however, shall not apply to the persons of the following occupations: government officials, ministers, missionaries, lawyers, physicians, chemists, civil engineers, teachers, students, authors, artists, merchants, and travelers of curiosity or pleasure.”[7] Since some citizens thought that immigrants were taking away their manual labor jobs, the government now wanted to make sure that immigrants were not to obtain skilled labor jobs as well. It was a loose-loose situation for immigrants of those times.
As for the legal terminology in detail of immigration and the US, there has not been any more assurance in the past 150 years or so. The distinct legal lines to where an immigrant is a citizen or an alien are very specific in the sense that “citizenship is a divided concept.” [8] It comes down to a perceptualized image of legal citizenry with the fear of still having citizenship provoked, to the alien thinking of being deported. The mindset goes as described more to be that “there is no firm separation possible between the domains of citizenship at the border and citizenship within. Instead, the two domains are overlapping and interpenetrated in various respects.” [9] The legal defense of immigration has proven to be one of precise difficulty, yet it continues to fight on, even to present day and the unforeseeable future.