Immigration Trends and Tensions

Immigration Trends and Tensions: A Comparative Analysis
In the United States, immigration has long been a source of both opportunity and tension. Throughout the country's history, millions of people from around the world have come to the United States in search of a better life. However, the arrival of so many new people has only sometimes been met with open arms. From economic concerns to national security fears, Americans have voiced a range of anxieties in response to immigration. This paper will compare two time periods in U.S. history—1880-1925 and 2000-present day—to understand how immigration trends and tensions have evolved.
Between 1880 and 1925, the United States saw a dramatic increase in the number of immigrants arriving on its shores, with Europeans comprising the bulk of these newcomers. Italians, Irish, Poles, and Jews, among others, arrived in droves, seeking the new opportunities and better lives that America seemed to promise (Hipsman, 2017; Library of Congress, 2022). However, this influx of new arrivals did not come without consequences. Many native-born Americans began to feel threatened by the sheer number of foreigners, fearing that they would lose jobs and resources to the newcomers. As a result, xenophobic and nativist sentiments grew, with some Americans openly expressing hostility towards immigrants. The U.S. government responded to these anxieties in several ways, implementing restrictive measures to curb immigration. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 (National Archives, 2021), for example, outright banned the immigration of Chinese laborers, while the National Origins Act of 1924 created quotas that were specifically designed to limit the number of immigrants from southern and eastern Europe (“Immigration Act | United States [1924] | Britannica,” 2020).
From 2000 to the present day, the United States has experienced several significant immigration trends. Millions of Latin Americans have arrived in the United States for better economic opportunities. This influx has contributed to the country's changing demographics, with the Hispanic population growing faster than any other ethnic group (Hipsman, 2017). The arrival of so many immigrants has also generated several tensions. For example, some Americans have expressed concern about the impact of immigration on the job market, with fears that new arrivals will compete for jobs and drive down wages (Hoban, 2017). Others worry about the potential security risks posed by people entering the country without proper documentation. Some of these concerns have manifested in the form of nativism and xenophobia, with certain individuals expressing hostility towards immigrants or foreign-born individuals in general (Tallmeister, 2013). The United States government has responded to these tensions in various ways. For example, border security has increased significantly recently, with more agents patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border and pushing to build a wall along the entire border. Additionally, the Trump administration instituted a travel ban in 2017 that restricts people from certain Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States (Kanno-Youngs, 2020). These policies indicate the political and social challenges posed by immigration i...