Impact of Immigration on American Society Research Paper

Impact of Immigration on American Society - Research Paper Example The fear of the negative impact of immigration has led to passage of Acts. These acts restrict the inflow of immigrants to the main parts of America. Moreover, after Second World War, American soldiers married foreign women from 50 different countries. This paper will discuss the impact of the positive as well as negative impact of the immigration and the controversy revolving around the war brides of the American servicemen. Additionally in this paper, the negative impact of immigration will provide justification of the passage of Acts that intended to limit large scale immigration.1 Some level of immigration has been continuous throughout American history. There have been two epochal periods: the 1880 to 1924 Age of Mass Migration, primarily from Southern and Eastern Europe, and the Post 1965 Wave of Immigration, primarily from Latin America and Asia. In 21st century the impact of the immigration is relatively less than that in the 20th century with the American population reaching a total of 300 million. 2 Therefore, Acts were passed to limit the amount of foreigners intending to settle in America because of the fear that the Americans won’t conform to the typically â€Å"American way of life†. The first law that caused the prevention of Immigration was the Immigration Act of 1882. Congress passed a new Immigration Act that stated a 50 cents tax would be levied on all â€Å"aliens â€Å"landing at United States ports. It was an act in which the State Commission and officers were in charge of checking the passengers upon incoming vessels arriving in the U.S. The passengers were examined by a set of exclusionary criteria. Upon examination passengers who appeared to be convicts, lunatics, idiots or unable to take care of themselves were not permitted to land. The Immigration Act of 1891 was a revised version of the aforementioned Act and it declared that certain classes of individuals are considered unfit to become American citizens. 3 Moreover, the Immigration Act of 1917 excluded diseased people as well as prostitutes from immigrating to America. Also, the Immigration Act of 1924 set quotas that limited annual immigration from certain countries. â€Å"The 70 million immigrants who have arrived since the founding of the republic (are responsible for the majority of the contemporary American population (Gibson 1992: 165).† 3These Acts were passed because of the concern of the natives over immigrants polluting the American society or bringing negative sides of their heritage to America. In addition, in the years between 1942 and 1952, servicemen started the tradition of marrying women where they waged wars. In addition, 100000 war brides were British, 150,000 to 200,000 hailed from continental Europe, and another 16,000 came from Australia and New Zealand. There were brides from non-Allied countries, too. Military estimates indicate that 50,000 to 100,000 servicemen wed women from countries of the Far East, including Japan, and immigration records show that by 1950, 14,175 German brides of American servicemen had entered the United States. 4These statistics show the diversity with regards to the nationalities these brides belonged to. Interestingly so, foreign women were willing to marry these soldiers on the mere basis of their proximity, generosity and opportunity. British women, in particular saw the American soldiers as a breath of fresh air and the continental European pictured

Historical and political perspectives Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Historical and political perspectives - Essay Example , and it became clear that further action was necessary to ensure that the mandate to protect the rights and autonomy of disabled children was not impeding the realistic delivery of a personal understanding of their unique needs and potential. The CAF was one of several initiatives taken in response to widespread doubt regarding the efficacy of the Acts and provided a nationwide model of expectation and practice (Pithouse, 2006). Together, these two changes in national policy have turned the tide for the education of children with special educational needs. The SEN Code of Practice 2001 recommended a graduated distribution of nationwide change in the areas of assessment and inclusion in the mainstream schools. Thereafter, with the emphasis on building bridges between schools, a firm foundation was laid for the CAF 2005. Specifically, the CAF 2005 established a database of information for ascertaining with the special needs of children and standardized related expectations and recommended practices (â€Å"Behaviour and Individual Differences†, 2010). The function of CAF 2005 in addressing the shortcomings of the SEN 2001 Act was never explicitly acknowledged, but was rather a generalized reinforcement of a number of educational reforms. The official purposes focused upon children with an impaired â€Å"opportunity of achieving or maintaining a reasonable standard of health or development† (Pithouse, 2006, 201). Thus, by combining methodological recommendations for focus and economy, the CAF proposes educational change in a multi-faceted and complex manner (Pithouse, 2006). From the above discussion, it is evident that the CAF 2005 was an incremental approach over the objectives established under the 2001 SEN act. While the SEN 2001 act provides legal rights to disabled students, the CAF 2005 focuses more on an integrated approach towards assessing the needs of children and young people. Thus, the latter facilitates a wholesome strategy towards reaching a wider