Voice of Anti-Immigration

The anti-immigration movement started around 1870 when many immigrants started coming to America. Between 1870 and 1920 America took in 27 million immigrants from Southern and East Central Europe. These immigrants were different from the normal Anglo-Saxon culture. Many people did not like these new people and tried fighting against it. "Anti-immigration activists sought to keep certain classes or races of people out of the United States, fearing that the Anglo-Saxon culture of the country would dissolve in the influx of new people." These people were so afraid that they went to Congress to try and stop the immigrants from coming in. In 1921 and 1923 Congress passed the Quota Acts which limited the amount of immigrants allowed in the country each year from any one certain country. Many of the Americans in this time period were against of the people they referred to as "polygamists" and "anarchists" because they did not want the religion and culture they had established in the US to be dirtied or changed in any way. Many people also believed that the immigrants would not be able to assimilate into America. "It was tied to attempts to "Americanize" immigrants with citizenship classes, literacy classes, and even cooking classes." The only way that the American citizens would allow in immigrants was if they were able to take away all of their foreign culture and bring them up to the Anglo-Saxon norm. "Ultimately, all immigrants experienced some assimilation, with such groups as Scandinavians becoming completely Anglo-Saxonized" Even today many people still feel that we should not allow immigrants into this country legally or illegally. In the 1980s and 1990s political figures asked for "renewed restrictions on immigration, especially in the light of increased illegal immigration from Mexico and Cuba." Even though there are not as many people trying to immigrate into this country as there were about 100 years ago, there is still a big issue with the idea of new citizens. As long as people continue to immigrate, there will always be a big debate and loud voices from anti-immigration activists.

"anti-immigration movement." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 1 Feb. 2010. .