The United States Immigration Laws on Asian

Name: Institution: Course: Date: U.S Immigration Laws on Asian In its history, the United States of America has been in the forefront as a destination of immigrants. Many people who leave their home countries due to poverty, political instabilities, or religious persecution often find refuge in the United States. Others move to America with hopes of landing better paying job opportunities and create money for supporting their families (Lowe 3). Historically, the U.S. has been perceived as a country of immigrants, a status that has persisted up to date. However, any form of international migration has been an issue that calls for variant levels of legal restrictions. Changes in the United States policies influenced the existing hindrances that prevented Asian immigration to the United States, as well as the changes observed in the previous decade. The Immigration Act of 1965 presented reforms that had all countries at an equal level, unlike previous United States immigration policies that favored whites especially from northwestern Europe over other races. The paper investigates the evolution of U.S Immigration laws and policies and their impact on Asian immigrants. Initially, the United States immigration policy toward Asian communities was based on pure racial exclusion which lasted for several decades. Chinese migration to the United States attained a significant change when its immigrants began settling in the West Coast in the nineteenth century. Their presence in the country was considered as competition by the white workers which eventually inspired anti-Chinese agitation (Lowe 5). After several decades of anti-Chinese protests, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was passed by Congress to regulate further labor immigration from China. Although the Act was meant to last for only 10 years. However, in 1892 the act was renewed and in 1904 it became part of the United States policy. It was only under special provision through which a few Chinese immigrants still arrived in the U.S. in early twentieth century. A few decades later, the Japanese immigrant also experienced a similar fate as the Chinese. Japanese immigration was encouraged to provide cheap labor towards the end of the 19th century and start of the 20th century. Their cheap and readily available labor led to the reduction of wage levels of white workers who then began anti-Japanese sentiments. When the anti-Japanese agitation intensified, the Gentlemen’s Agreement of 1908 was signed to reduce the level of Japanese immigration into the United States. According to the Gentlemen’s Agreement, only non-laborers were allowed to migrate to the United States. The Filipinos, who worked on sugarcane and pineapple plantations in Hawaii, consisted a significant proportion of the Asian immigrants in the United States. Their population in the United States increased during the 1920s, with some coming directly from the Philippines and others indirectly through Hawaii (Lowe 8). The Filipinos were thus considered as United States nationals and therefore had no legal or quota restrictions on them. However, the Tydings-McDuffie Act (Filipino Exclusion Act) of 1934, which branded Filipinos an “alien” status was passed. The Filipino Exclusion Act limited aimed at reducing the number ...