June 2017

Immigrant Heritage Month

June is Immigrant Heritage Month. We celebrate the diversity of the multiple
countries, religions, cultures and languages represented in the immigrant
community. Immigrants have always been an important population for the United
States. June is a time for Americans to remember that the majority of citizens are
descendants of immigrants.

Personal Views on Immigration

The following three Iowans share their viewpoints on what the word
immigrant means to them.
Lejla
Velika Kladusa, Bosnia
It [being an immigrant] means someone threw you out of your country and took
everything away from you. Imagine if someone came here and took your car and
everything. And then you have to move to someone else's country, and you dont know
the language, and start all over again.

Nico
Bihac, Bosnia
Immigrant je neko ko je bjezo od svoje kue to nije
safe biti tu... But tell them we're all immigrants.
[Translation] An immigrant is someone who left their
home because it's no longer safe to be there... But,
tell them we're all immigrants.
Gerardo
Chihuahua, Mexico
Cuando yo era muy chico me gustaba la poltica. Pero al saber que exista mucha
corrupcin me decepcione. Decid olvidarme de eso. Solo estudie asta grado 9. Un da a
la edad de 14 aos, decid cruzar la frontera ilegalmente llegando hasta California.
Queriendo trabajar para ganar dinero ya no quise estudiar. Era difcil porque era muy
jovencito y no poda conseguir trabajo pero luego encontr ganando 10 dlares al da.
Tuve la oportunidad de arreglar mis papeles in 1986 y me gusta este pas. Me ha ofrecido
muchas oportunidades. Logre hacerme ciudadano americano en 1997 pero cuando uno
no tiene papeles, uno se siente inestable por pensar que lo pueden sacar en cualquier
momento pero ya paso todo eso. En este momento, tengo 37 aos en este pas. Ahora
tengo mi razn de vivir aqu con mis hijas y mi esposa.
[Translated] When I was very young I liked politics. But when I learned there was a lot of
corruption, I became disappointed. I decided to forget about that. I studied up to 9th grade.
One day at the age of 14, I decided to cross the border illegally to California. I wanted to
work to earn money and I no longer wanted to study. It was hard because I was very
young and I could not find a job, but then I found one earning 10 dollars a day. I had the
opportunity to arrange my papers in 1986 and I like this country. It has offered me many
opportunities. I managed to become an American citizen in 1997 but when you do not
have papers, you feel unstable because you think they can take you out at any time, but
that's the past. At the moment, I have 37 years in this country. Now I have my reason to
live here with my daughters and my wife.

Important Dates in American Immigration History

1790: The Naturalization Act of 1790 establishes a uniform rule of naturalization and a
two-year residency requirement for aliens who are "free white persons" of "good moral
character".
1798: The Naturalization Act of 1798 permits Federalist President John Adams to deport
foreigners deemed to be dangerous and increases the residency requirements to 14 years
to prevent immigrants from becoming citizens.
1802: The Jefferson Administration revises the Naturalization Act of 1798 by reducing the
residency requirement from 14 to five years
1819: Congress passes an act requiring shipmasters to deliver a manifest counting all
aliens transported for immigration. The Secretary of State is required to report annually to
Congress the number of immigrants admitted.
1840s: Crop failures in Germany, social turbulence triggered by the rapid industrialization
of European society, political unrest in Europe, and the Irish Potato Famine (18451851)
lead to a new period of mass immigration to the United States.
1848: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends the Mexican-American War and extends
citizenship to the approximately 80,000 Mexicans living in Texas, California, and the
American Southwest.
1849: The California gold rush spurs immigration from China and extensive internal
migration.
1850: For the first time, the United States Census surveys the "nativity" of citizens (born
inside or outside the U.S.).
1855: Castle Garden is established as New York's principal point of entry.
1862: The Homestead Act provides free plots of up to 160 acres of western land to
settlers who agree to develop and live on it for at least five years, thereby spurring an
influx of immigrants from overpopulated countries in Europe seeking land of their own.
1862: The "Anti-Coolie" Act discourages Chinese immigration to California and institutes
special taxes on employers who hire Chinese workers.
1863: The Central Pacific hires Chinese laborers and the Union Pacific hires Irish laborers
to construct the first transcontinental railroad, which would stretch from San Francisco to
Omaha, allowing continuous travel by rail from coast to coast.
1870: The Naturalization Act of 1870 expands citizenship to both whites and African-
Americans, though Asians are still excluded.
1870: The Fifteenth Amendment is ratified, granting voting rights to citizens, regardless of
"race, color, or previous condition of servitude".
18811885: 1 million Germans arrive in the peak of German immigration.
18811920: 2 million Eastern European Jews immigrate to the United States.
1882: The Chinese Exclusion Act restricts all Chinese immigration to the United States for
a period of ten years.
1885: The Alien Contract Labor Law prohibits any company or individual from bringing
foreigners into the United States under contract to perform labor.
1890: Immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe substantially increases, while
immigration from Northern and Western Europe begins to decrease.
1892: The Geary Act extends the Chinese Exclusion Act for ten more years and adds the
requirement that all Chinese residents carry permits, as well as excluding them from
serving as witnesses in court.
1892: Ellis Island, where more than 16 million immigrants would be processed, opens in
New York City.
1901: After President William McKinley is shot and killed by a Polish anarchist, Congress
enacts the Anarchist Exclusion Act, which prohibits the entry into the U.S. of people
judged to be anarchists and political extremists.
1902: The Chinese Exclusion Act is again renewed, this time with no ending date.
1906: The Naturalization Act of 1906 standardizes naturalization procedures, makes some
knowledge of the English language a requirement for citizenship and establishes the
Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization.
1907: The Expatriation Act declares that an American woman who marries a foreign
national loses her citizenship.
1907: The United States agrees not to restrict Japanese immigration in exchange for
Japan's promise to voluntarily restrict Japanese emigration to the United States by not
issuing passports to Japanese laborers.
19111920: 2 million Italians arrive in the peak of Italian immigration.
1913: California's Alien Land Law prohibits "aliens ineligible for citizenship" (Chinese and
Japanese) from owning property in the state, providing a model for similar anti-Asian laws
in other states.
1917: Congress overrides President Woodrow Wilsons veto and enacts a literacy
requirement for immigrants that requires immigrants to be able to read 40 words in their
native language.
1917: The Immigration Act of 1917 restricts immigration from Asia by creating an "Asiatic
Barred Zone".
1921: The Emergency Quota Act restricts immigration from a given country to 3% of the
number of people from that country living in the U.S. in 1910.
1923: In the landmark case of United States v. Bhaghat Singh Thind, the Supreme Court
rules that Indians from the Asian subcontinent cannot become U.S. citizens.
1924: The Immigration Act of 1924 limits annual European immigration to 2% of the
number of people from that country living in the United States in 1890.
1929: The National Origins Formula institutes a quota that caps national immigration at
150,000 and completely bars Asian immigration, though immigration from the Western
Hemisphere is still permitted.
1934: The Tydings-McDuffe Act grants the Philippines independence from the United
States but strips Filipinos of U.S. citizenship and severely restricts Filipino immigration to
the United States.

Today's Immigrants in Iowa

Immigrants remain a vital part of Iowa's economy, education and
population
1 in 13 Iowans is Asian or Latino
2.8% of Iowa's total net business income is from immigrant business owners
37% of immigrants are naturalized and eligible to vote
5.8% of Iowa's workforce is comprised of immigrants
Immigrant students contributed $317 million to the states economy in tuition, fees and
living expenses for the 2013-2014 academic year
Iowa's History of Immigration
Iowa opened its arms (and land) to immigrants in the 19th century
During the early 1800's, immigrants made up 10% of the population heading west and
settling down in Iowa. Immigrants from Norway, Sweden, and the Netherlands made up
the majority of non-American born land owners. By 1850, there were 20,969 immigrants
residing in Iowa. During a time in American history when the majority of the country
shunned immigrants, Iowa was more welcoming than most and extensively advertised to
immigrants to convince them to head west. Owning Iowa land was enticing to immigrants
who were leaving their home countries because of a poor economy and encouraged a
diverse population to settle within Iowa's borders.

Rubi Cordova| Intern

Elizabeth Dorwart | Intern
Division of Community Advocacy | Iowa Department of Human Rights

Lucas State Office Building 321 E 12th Street | Des Moines, IA 50319