Current and Proposed Immigration Legislation and its Impact on Latinos

THE SECRETARY 'S OPEN FORUM Presentations were prepared for the Secretary 's Open Forum Conversation Series . Views or conclusions contained herein should not be interpreted as representing the official opinion or policy of the U .S . Department of State .Professor Maurice Waters

Staff Member , Congressman Conyers ' Office

HYPERLINK "http /immigration .about .com /gi /dynamic /offsite .htm ?site http /www .sta te .gov /www /dept /openforum /proceedings /may25 2D99 /social 5Ftrust .html Social Trust and Foreign Policy : Immigration and Law Enforcement Issues

Secretary 's Open Forum

May 25 , 1999

The

following was written by Professor Maurice Waters , a staff member in the office of Congressman John Conyers , Jr . It was prepared with the assistance of Minority staff specialists in the office of the House Judiciary Committee . It is distributed in place of a presentation that was to have been made by Congressman Conyers , who was prevented from appearing due to the work that required his attention as Ranking Member of the Committee

America 's Immigration History and its Current Law

Despite the noble and compassionate words of Emma Lazarus inscribed on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty in 1903 , Americans have no always reflected that spirit of support for the immigrant even in the early years of our country 's development . Questions were raised by some of our founding fathers including even Benjamin Franklin about who and how many newcomers should be admitted to these shores

By the middle of the 19th century the major source of immigration no longer came from western Europe , and had shifted to southern and eastern Europe , although Germany continued to be a major source of emigration The search for work and the need for workers coincided . American employers eager for cheap labor gladly supported the search for the new immigrant

In 1882 Congress passed the first immigration statute , barring Chinese immigrants . Prejudice , formerly just vocally expressed , now became part of American law as it applied to immigration

In the 1920 's , quotas designed to maintain our original ethnic and racial immigration origins became the basis of our new laws . And while the quota concept was finally abolished in the mid 1960 's , the numbers admitted to this country continued to favor white Europeans and their descendants . This prejudicial attitude was particularly evident in the Popenoe eugenics movement in 1924 which took the view that certain races were in character and intellect superior to others

The major changes that occurred after World War II were designed to restrict persons on the basis of political ideology . Hundreds of thousands of refugees were admitted , many fleeing from political and /or religious persecution

The issue of social trust and immigration should not be viewed solely from the perspective of the number and place of origin that the law provides regarding the acceptable immigrant . There is no doubt that the issue of social values arises when certain groups are accepted in large numbers and others are rejected or allowed to enter the United States only as a very...