ImmigrationtotheUnitedStateshistory•Americanimmigrationhistorycanbeviewedinfourepochs:•thecolonialperiod,•themid-19thcentury,•thestartofthe20thcentury,•andpost-1965.•Eachperiodbroughtdistinctnationalgroups,racesandethnicitiestotheUnitedStates.20thcenter•In1921,theCongresspassedtheEmergencyQuotaAct,followedbytheImmigrationActof1924.The1924ActwasaimedatfurtherrestrictingtheSouthernandEasternEuropeans,especiallyJews,Italians,andSlavs,whohadbeguntoenterthecountryinlargenumbersbeginninginthe1890s.•Immigrationpatternsofthe1930sweredominatedbytheGreatDepression,whichhittheU.S.hardandlastedovertenyearsthere.•TheImmigrationandNationalityActof1965,alsoknownastheHart-CellarAct,abolishedthesystemofnational-originquotas.Byequalizingimmigrationpolicies,theactresultedinnewimmigrationfromnon-Europeannations,whichchangedtheethnicmake-upoftheUnitedStates.immgrants•TheCensusBureauestimatestheUSpopulationwillgrowfrom281millionin2000to397millionin2050withimmigration,butonlyto328millionwithnoimmigration.•Non-Hispanicwhitesmadeup85%ofthepopulationin1960.ItalsoforeseestheHispanicpopulationrisingfrom14%in2005to29%by2050.•TheAsianpopulationisexpectedtomorethantripleby2050.•Overall,thepopulationoftheUnitedStatesisduetorisefrom296millionin2005to438millionin2050,with82%oftheincreasefromimmigrants.historytoptenforeigncountriesinmigrationtotheu.s•TopTenForeignCountries–ForeignBornPopulationAmongU.S.Immigrants•CountryNewImmigrantsPerYearTotalU.S.Population•Mexico175,9009,600,000•China50,9001,900,000•Philippine47,8001,700,000•India59,3001,610,000•Vietnam33,7001,200,000•Cuba14,8001,100,000•ElSalvador33,5001,100,000•DominicanRepublic24,900941,000•Canada24,200920,000•Korea17,900880,000•TotalForTop10498,90021,741,000•TotalForeignBorn940,00040,500,000permanentresidentsCountry2012Mexico146,406China81,784India66,434Philippines57,327DominicanRepublic41,566InflowofNewLegalPermanentResidents,TopFiveSendingCountries,2012thenewgenerationoftheu.s•By1970,immigrantsaccountedfor4.7percentoftheUSpopulationandrisingto6.2percentin1980,withanestimated12.5percenttothisdate.•Asof2010,aquarteroftheresidentsoftheUnitedStatesunder18areimmigrantsorareimmigrants'children.•EightpercentofallbabiesbornintheU.S.in2008belongedtoillegalimmigrantparents.whydotheymigrate•Neoclassicaleconomicsapproachpointsoutthatindividualactorsdecidetomigratebecauseacost-benefitcalculationleadsthemtoexpectapositivenetreturn.•Manyfactorsareintegratedintothecost-benefitcalculation.Thesefactorsincludemoney,adaptationtoanewcultureandpsychologicalcostsofcuttingoldties.whydotheymigrate•Migrationnetworktheoryemphasizestheconnectionbetweenmigrantsandtheirfamilies,friendsandcommunitiesinorigincountries.•Migrationnetworkfunctionsasanimportantinformationsourceforpeoplewhoaresearchingforbetterplacesandthusexpandstheir“awarenessplace”.Meanwhile,itdeclinestherisksandcostsofmigration.whydotheymigrate•Worldsystemtheoryshedssomelightsonanalyzingthemigrationprocess.•Theeconomicglobalizationcreatesculturallinksbetweencorecapitalistcountriesandperipheralcountries.•Inmodernsocietymasscommunicationsandadvertisingcompanieshavegreatimpactonpeople’spreferenceintheprocessofchoosingbetteralternativeplaces.Effectsofimmigration•Demographics•Economic•Social•Religiousdiversity•PoliticalDemographics•ThishascausedquestioningofthecorrectnessofdescribingtheUnitedStatesasameltingpot.•Oneexplanationisthatgroupswithlowersocioeconomicstatusconcentrateinmoredenselypopulatedareathathaveaccesstopublictransitwhilegroupswithhighersocioeconomicstatusmovetosuburbanareas.•Anotheristhatsomerecentimmigrantgroupsaremoreculturallyandlinguisticallydifferentthanearliergroupandprefertolivetogetherduetofactorssuchascommunicationcosts.Economic•In2009,astudybytheCatoInstitute,afreemarketthinktank,foundthatlegalizationoflow-skilledillegalresidentworkersintheUSwouldresultinanetincreaseinUSGDPof$180billionovertenyears.•TheKauffmanFoundation’sindexofentrepreneurialactivityisnearly40%higherforimmigrantsthanfornatives.ImmigrantswereinvolvedinthefoundingofmanyprominentAmericanhigh-techcompanies,suchasGoogle,Yahoo,SunMicrosystems,andeBay.•Onthepoorendofthespectrum,theNewAmericansreportfoundthatlow-wageimmigrationdoesnot,onaggregate,lowerthewagesofmostdomesticworkers.Religiousdiversity•ImmigrationfromSouthAsiaandelsewherehascontributedtoenlargingthereligiouscompositionoftheUnitedStates.•IslamintheUnitedStatesisgrowingmainlyduetoimmigration.•HinduismintheUnitedStates,BuddhismintheUnitedStates,andSikhismintheUnitedStatesareotherexamples.political•Studieshavesuggestedthatsomespecialinterestgrouplobbyforlessimmigrationfortheirowngroupandmoreimmigrationforothergroupssincetheyseeeffectsofimmigration,suchasincreasedlaborcompetition,asdetrimentalwhenaffectingtheirowngroupbutbeneficialwhenaffectingothergroups.opinions•Generally,U.S.immigrationin21thcenturystillstronglyinfluencedAmericansocietywithhoweversomenewcharacteristics.•Spanishspeakingimmigrants,educatedimmigrantsandskilledimmigrantsincreasedwhilestrictpoliciesstronglyinfluencedillegalanddiscriminatedimmig