For the entirety of United States history, many different groups of people have tried to immigrate for a variety of reasons. Many of these reasons include escaping oppression and cruelty in their home countries, wanting to have a better life for their children, or finding better job opportunities. However, Americans have treated those immigrants differently based on their race or place of origin and even restricted some groups from entering altogether. Many people have been deported or separated from their families based on stereotypes and systemic racism. Different ethnicities in the United States have had ranging levels of difficulty on their paths to citizenship in the present as well as in the past. 

Focusing on the history of immigration in the United States, European immigrants were almost always favored more than any other race. In the 1960s, almost 75% of immigrants were from Europe, while all other countries (such as Mexico and Canada) made up only about 25% of the immigrant population. But as time went on, the rates of immigration from Europe significantly decreased as many more people started to come from Mexico. 25% of the immigrant population now came from this country, a significant increase from previous years. During the years from 1790 to 1870, Congress had laws set in place that prohibited non-white people from applying for citizenship. Obviously, these laws were very controversial and continued the cycle of racism in America. They gave other races a reputation that they were foreign and because they were not legally white, they did not live up to the “American” standard. One example of a certain race being targeted is the Chinese Exclusion Act. This law was passed in 1882 and followed the influx of Chinese immigrants searching for gold during the Gold Rush. This was the first law that officially banned a certain race from entering. One speculation of why this law was passed was because many Americans were skeptical that the Chinese workers were ruining their economy and contributing to the record unemployment rates. Later on, this led to a spiral of discrimination, such as harsh labor laws and other strict rules that made it extremely hard for anyone from China to live in America. This law was finally repealed in 1943, during World War 2, when the Chinese fought alongside the U.S. against Japan. More trust was gained because of their loyalty, but racism against Chinese is still existent today. Another example of America’s tendency to limit immigration is the Immigration Act of 1924. This law set quotas on the number of immigrants that could come from each country. It only allowed around 2% of the actual population of each country to immigrate and completely prohibited people from Asia, Central America, and South-Eastern Europe. The three countries that were favored included Great Britain, Ireland, and Germany. People from these countries were of Caucasian descent and therefore more “favorable” to the United States citizens. The main purpose of this act was to preserve the homogeneity and whiteness of the U.S. This is another example of the restriction of immigration to favor certain people. A good look at America and its past can give an image of how many people, specifically people of color, were treated differently and given harder experiences immigrating to our country. 

Recently, the United States has experienced a pattern of racism and hate, including acts of terrorism, violence, and mass shootings that have created a shockwave of distrust and uneasiness in our country. Many of these acts are evidence of racism and underlying white supremacy that has gone unchecked. We can also see evidence of this in our own government that has affected immigration in the United States. During the Trump Administration, bans against immigration were put upon certain races in order to prevent problems with traveling. For example, one law that was passed by the president was Executive Order 13769, which inflicted a travel ban and stopped all Muslim people from entering. Even before this ban was executed, racism was building against this group of people as the result of many conflicts between countries. Many families were torn apart, lives were ruined, and dreams were crushed. Executive Order 13769 did not only ban Muslims from entering but also suspended the entry of Syrian refugees altogether.  Even victims of war could not escape their dangerous home countries and come to the United States. America still has a long way to go in order to improve our status as a welcoming and open place to seek refuge. As we can see, even today when many people are generally more accepting and willing to incorporate different kinds of people into their society, there are still examples of hate and racism that prohibit certain people from coming into a land with more opportunities and promise. 

In our day and age, illegal immigration rates are much higher than in the past, especially from places like Mexico, Central America, and Asia. As of 2017, there were 6,640,000 illegal immigrants that came from Mexico alone. Today, around 10 million people are here undocumented and at risk of being deported. Most of these illegal immigrants either cannot afford the resources it takes to become a citizen or are uneducated about the process. Another common characteristic is that many of them do not speak English and have difficulty translating. Because of these issues, many people have developed stereotypes and racist ways of thinking that are mostly untrue and unfair to these people who are in desperate situations. As a consequence, many opportunities such as applying for a green card and the ability to get housing are stolen from these people which keep them from improving. As more people enter undocumented, negative stereotypes and racism are enforced and even more opportunities become out of reach for these people. Yet, when people of the same descent come here safely and legally, they are still discriminated against despite their compliance with the law. This evidence shows that higher illegal immigration rates lead to more discrimination and that people of the same race cannot immigrate as easily. 

America has had a history of excluding certain groups of people from entering based on stereotypes and ignorance that has caused a cycle of racism and hate. Many laws have been passed, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act, the Immigration Act of 1924, and Executive Order 13769 which have stopped many groups of people from entering as they please. Almost all of these laws have favored the immigration of European and/or white people, and prohibited people from all parts of Asia and many countries in Central America from entering. Even after these laws were repealed or removed, their effects are still prominent in our society. In addition to this, illegal immigration also has an effect on how people come into our country. These problems are existent all around the world and do not only affect the U.S. To summarize, America has biased the immigration process and made the entry of certain races more difficult. 

History.com Editors. “U.S. Immigration Timeline.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 21 Dec. 2018, www.history.com/topics/immigration/immigration-united-states-timeline.

Blizzard, Jeanne Batalova Brittany, and Jeanne Batalova. “Naturalization Trends in the United States.” Migrationpolicy.org, 29 July 2019, www.migrationpolicy.org/article/naturalization-trends-united-states#HistoricalTrends.

“Executive Order 13769.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 26 Jan. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_13769. 

“Chinese Exclusion Act.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Jan. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Exclusion_Act.

“U.S. Immigration Trends.” Migrationpolicy.org, 18 Dec. 2019, www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/data-hub/us-immigration-trends.

Villazor, Rose Cuison. “Crossing the Line Between 'Immigrant' and 'American'.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 2013, www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/11/15/how-immigrants-come-to-be-seen-as-americans/rose-villazor-9-am-thurs.

“Immigration Reform FAQ / Frequently Asked Questions.” America's Voice, 2019, americasvoice.org/why-dont-immigrants-come-here-legally-and-other-frequent-questions-about-immigration-reform/.