USA Unit 3(0.6) Flashcards
How did WWII impact immigration? How did immigrants support the war effort?
-It limited traditional sources of immigration.
-It also led a campaign of national unity under ‘American All’.
-Immigrants and their descendants with few exceptions supported the war effort through service and defence industries.
In 1942 what happened to some Japanese Americans? Were they disloyal?
How did Japanese Americans support America during the war?
-1942 112,000 Japanese Americans who lived in the west coast, were forcibly removed from their homes and confined in ‘War Relocation Camps’.
-They were NOT disloyal and instead were victims of fear and racial prejudice.
-During the war Japenese Americans thought with distinction. Others served as interpreters and translators, they eyes and ears of US forces in the Pacific.
What was the McCarran-Walter Act? 1952
-It allowed small quotas of immigrants from Asia.
-Eliminated ‘race’ as a barrier to natrualisation, enabling Asians to become American citizens.
-Maintained the existing ‘national origins’ system of immigration.
Did the McCarran Walter Act meet its aims? How did Asian families bypass restrictions?
-No. The act allowed more immigrants than expected.
-While only a few hundred Asians were allowed to enter the USA each year, family reunification provisions permitted some 45,000 Japanese and 32,000 Chinese to enter the USA in the 1950s.
Why was there a large number of Hispanics entering the USA in the 1950s?
-Puerto Ricans could enter the USA without restrictions.
-Immigration from Mexico was not limited by quotas.
What did 1965 legislation mean for immigration?
-The discriminatory quota system was abolished.
-290,000 immigrants per year could be admitted to the USA as of 1968.
-Limits were placed on immigrants from Western Hemisphere countries: 120,000 per year were allowed with a maximum of 20,000 from ANY single nation.
After 1968, contrary to Congress expectations, what flow of immigration declined? What increased instead?
By 1976 where did +50% of US immigrants come from?
-The flow of European immigrants declined and the numbers from Latin America and Asia began to swell.
-By 1976 +50% of immigrants came from Mexico, Phillipines, Korea, Cuba, Taiwan, India and DR.
Due to the American birth rate stabilisation what did this mean for the immigrant population?
-This meant that immigrants came to compose a higher percentage of the population. By the late 1970s more than 450,000 legal immigrants arrived each year.
-What fraction of legal immigrants were European? Fewer than 1/5.
What did critics claim about immigration after the 1960s?
-Critics claimed that this strained schools and social services and deprived native born Americans jobs.
-Liberals argued that the immigrants brought valuable skills and contributed to economic growth and a richer ethno-cultural mix.
