immigration by enforcing the laws already in place. What this paper will attempt todo is bring the immigration issue into perspective. America most certainly has immigration problems but they will not be fixed by eliminating immigration all together. In fact, America willnever totally eliminate immigration, because no matter how tightly the door is closed some illegalimmigrants will get through. As long as America continues to be seen as a nation of prosperity,opportunity, and freedom there will be those who wish to come to America. Immigrants havealways come to America looking for a better life and Americans are always forgetting that theirforefathers were once looking for that same life. As a nation there must be a decision on whetherimmigration is an issue of conscience or economics.History of Immigration LawsThough most Americans see immigration as a modern problem it has been heavily debatedsince the 19th century. Throughout most of Americas history immigration was seen as a naturalprocess that benefited the nation (Divine 2). Until the 1890s there were no clearly definedpolicies on immigration. During this time the country started questioning the economic benefits ofmore immigrants, so things have note changed in that respect. In May 1921, the first bill inAmerican history restricted European immigration and created the quota system (Divine 5). Thisturn toward restriction could be justified by the downward turn in the economy. Who could arguefor more immigrants when the nations own citizens couldnt find work. The slowing economyand the spirit of intense nationalism in the United States at this time made immigration a hottopic (Divine 23).After the depression hit everyone was in agreement that there was a need to limitimmigration, of course the extent of those limits were not easily agreed upon (Divine 77). WorldWar II brought with it a new set of immigrants, and eventually the passing of the DisplacedPersons Act of 1947. This a...
