Pregledni rad
THE AMERICAN LEGISLATION ON IMMIGRATION IN THE PERIOD OF 1864 -1917
Ljubinka Toševa Karpowicz
; Rijeka
Sažetak
From declaration of independence in 1776 to present days, the United States of America is a country that has developed a policy to more or less attract immigrants.
From the beginning the policy has been linked to the right to acquire citizenship.
Both rights stimulated the adoption of a complex legislation which was worked out in detail.
At the same time the legislation contained provisions governing the establishment of state institutions to recruit immigrants in the USA as well as through diplomatic missions abroad. Moreover, legal acts regulated the carrying and transportation of immigrants with the aim to safely transport the workforce which was determined to be healthy in country of origin and to arrive as such in the USA.
Although the legislation was created to protect economic interests, it was also used to create policy which would protect ideological interests of a liberal state.
The Alien and Sedicton Acts were passed in 1798 as the first series of laws designed to ensure such protection. The Acts extended a residency period for these seeking American citizenship, acknowledged broader rights for immigrants to live the USA and to return to their country of origin and infringed freedom of speech and writing.
Further restrictions imposed with respect to policy to encourage immigration were introduced by the Act in Amendment to the Various Acts Relative to Immigration and the Importation of Aliens under Contract or Agreement to Perform Labour which was approved on March 3, 1891. From that time, immigrating to the USA was only possible for alien immigrants who had guaranteed job offers.
The third restrictive act was the 1906 Act to Establish a Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization. The Act not only prohibited immigration of a certain category of workers, but its provisions also proscribed immigration of persons who shared certain ideological views. According to the Article 39 of the 1907 Act, a special commission was established headed by William P. Dillingham, a senator from Vermont.
The Commission submitted a report on its work to the Congress and recommended further actions in the form of comprehensive study consisting of 42 volumes. The Commission manipulated statistical data collected by directors of immigration service offices during the years in every immigrant harbour in the USA. The Commission’s aim was to prove that so called new immigrants with Southern and Eastern European origins were racially inferior with regards to the old immigrants coming from Northern and Western Europe, and being as such they did not deserve to be entitled to receive American fund subsidies.
Ključne riječi
1864 Act to Encourage Immigration; 1906 Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization; Dillingham Commission
Hrčak ID:
82261
URI
Datum izdavanja:
20.12.2011.
Posjeta: 1.231 *