Background Analytical

America was founded as a Country of immigrants, but now that tradition and the culture have been defined, the citizens are not as welcoming. There is a continuous flow of immigration to America, and though they are accepted by the government they are not accepted into the culture right away. Many people decide to emigrate from their homelands are searching for a better life, the one that they believe the Americans have. Even though they have this desire there have been many instances in which they cannot be fulfilled. America has a government that is based on the people and the people felt there needed to be immigrant quotas. Due to those quotas it was harder for people to come to America and start a new life. In the case of the SS St. Louis the Jews who were attempting to flee Europe right before World War II and after being turned away from Cuba arrived in the United States. However upon arrival they were forced to go back to Europe. The reason they were not admitted was that, “President Franklin D. Roosevelt said that the United States could not accept any more European refugees because of immigration quotas.” The immigrant quotas were not the only way that the United States was able to keep people out. President Theodore Roosevelt made a deal with Japan called the “Gentleman's Agreement.” In this document Japan and the United States agreed that Japanese immigration would be limited. The only people who could come were those with family already in the States. This way Japan was able to keep their workers and build their army and America did not have to deal with new immigrants. Both of these cases demonstrated the issues that America had with immigration. In each instance there were people who wanted to come to America; however the people in America decided that they did not want anyone else coming.

One of the main reasons that the people wanted to put a halt on immigration was because they wanted to be able to maintain the Anglo- Saxon image. The people of America did not think that the immigrants would be able to assimilate into the society, "Denial that immigrants could be assimilated, that they could participate in or even comprehend democracy, or that they would be loyal was the justification for the movement." The people of America felt that they had the right not to allow people to immigrate; not realizing that they were talking away these peoples freedoms. America is based on freedom and liberty, but they want that for themselves and have trouble giving it to others.

There are other reasons that have caused people to want immigration reforms; the main one is the spike in illegal immigration. Due to the immigrant quotas many people have been taking the process of immigration into their own hands. There is a great deal of Americans who are against the aliens living in America and want them out. Along with getting them out they want stricter immigration reforms. There is a lot of chaos that goes along with immigration and with the chaos things have gone unnoticed. The terrorists of 9/11 were able to immigrate to America for a short time before the attack. This has increased the fear that the Americans have about immigration. This event reforced the fears people have about immigration, which has led the government to exclude various categories of people from being able to immigrate to America. The United States is looking for a certain kind of person that can easily fit into the culture and the job market. As a result of the certain image the America wants there has been great prejudice amongst various immigrant groups. The main groups that were targeted in the past were, “Irish, Germans, Italians, Swedes, Finns, and Poles.” They had to deal with persecution and poor living conditions. The United States has progressed immensely since it was established in 1776, and because of that they are beginning to shut themselves off from immigration. The culture in America has been set and immigration is just adding to the chaos. For many people it easier to just put more limits on immigration, and the government agrees. The reforms for immigration are continuing to be implemented. The harshness of immigration can be seen by both the process and the way that immigrants are being treated once they get to America.For right now this is how things are going to stay, and people are okay with that.