Immigrant History

      Immigrants have migrated to the U.S since the 19th century.  Like many they came with high hopes for a brighter future, freedom and financial gain .Since then Europeans, Latin Americans, Asians and people from different ethnicities and origin came to the U.S.  Unfortunately these people didn’t always receive the rights expected or the equality. They were discriminated against and treated unfairly.

      Until the 1960s, U.S. immigration laws reflected the racism. White Americans simply stated that some races were inferior and thus acts restricting the immigration of these people were made. These laws determined who might enter, how long they could stay and when they had to leave. The Civil Rights movement in the U.S caused a big change. Now people felt that they could protest and fight for equality, after all the13^th amendment of the U.S. Constitution states that all men are created equal. Then why people from other places shouldn’t be given equal rights? Today immigrants are still fighting for their rights and citizenship, but they are not a really strong group. According to the Census Bureau's 2009 American Community Survey, the US immigrant population was 38,517,234, or 12.5 percent of the total US population.

      Thus a century has passed and many immigrants still suffer many hardships from the past. Some might even say we're taking a step back due to racist laws and profiling done by such states as Arizona while others may say that Americans are improving due to California liberal and protection rights. Improving or not Immigrants still are yet to be treated such as their white counterparts in present day and there is only hope for a brighter future for these people.

Sources :

http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=old&doc=47
http://www.libraryindex.com/pages/2402/Immigration-Almost-Four-Hundred-Years-American-History-RESTRICTIONS-ON-IMMIGRATION-TIGHTEN.html