The Day Without Immigrants
Posted by Moonage on 01 May 2006 | Tagged as: National Politics
Today is the “Day Without Immigrants“. Due to problems with the Mexican border, and aggravated by security measures in response to 9/11, the immigration issue has reached a boiling point. Today I was listening to Fox radio on the way to work, and the same debate was raised for the umpteenth time. Namely, one side is arguing the US is a land of immigrants and we should return to that philosophy. The counter is, they are illegal and therefore deserve no respect. Well, that has got me thinking several times. Today, I resolve that curiosity. To wit, at what point did the US have open borders? The answer is a little surprising to me. And, I’m sure VERY surprising to the pro-legalized-workers supporters:
The last time the US had open borders for immigrants was:
NEVER.
That’s right, never.
There was a brief period of time from 1776 to 1790 where there were no laws at all regarding immigration. However, the first immigrant legislation, the Naturalization Act of 1790, slammed the door on everyone who was not a white male. Believe it or not, that act was not revoked until 1952’s Immigration and Nationality Act. However, many restrictions still remained in place. In 1965, the Immigration Reform Act changed restrictions on immigration to primarily how the potential immigrant might be of benefit to the US regardless of where they are from. Throughout the 1990’s, immigration legislation muddied the process by imposing numerical caps with all kinds of special exceptions.
Bottom line, it is A LOT EASIER to become a US citizen now than it was in 1790. What the Latino leaders are pushing for is the return to the days when there was no exception whatsoever to allow Mexican workers into the US for any reason at all. And quite honestly, this “Day Without Immigrants” IMO, will only convince most of the US that the old policy wasn’t all that bad.
It helps if you know what you’re fighting for, don’t it?
More from Michelle Malkin, euphoricreality, Stop the ACLU
6 Comments »
on 01 May 2006 at 11:00 am 1.bRight & Early said …
Illegal Immigrant Blogging
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on 01 May 2006 at 11:03 am 2.Iowa Voice said …
Immigration Protest Round-Up
Today I’m going to be blogging almost exclusively about immigration topics as a counter to the “Day Without Immigrants” boycott. So I decided to do an blog round-up to track as much as possible being written across the blogosphere.
Blogs commenting:
on 01 May 2006 at 11:36 am 3.Webloggin said …
Welcome to May 1st - American Shopping Day!
Welcome to May 1st - American Shopping Day! Im Working, Im Legal and I Vote!
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on 01 May 2006 at 1:09 pm 4.Right Truth said …
Minuteman Jim Gilchrist for President?
Jim Gilchrist of the Minuteman Project may run for president for the constitution party. Yes, the CONSTITUTION party. Never heard of it? I have listed several other bloggers who are also covering this exciting news. What is the Constitution party?
on 03 May 2006 at 8:43 am 5.Stormwarning's Counterterrorism said …
A Nation of Laws
The United States is a Nation of laws. On its face, its seems reasonable. There are laws and rules. You follow them, you are a law abiding citizen and you have your rights…as it is said in the Declaration of
on 03 May 2006 at 8:46 am 6.Stormwarning's Counterterrorism said …
A Nation of Laws
The United States is a Nation of laws. On its face, its seems reasonable. There are laws and rules. You follow them, you are a law abiding citizen and you have your rights…as it is said in the Declaration of