Ep 8: Immigration Crisis: How We Got Here - Part 2

Discover the hidden history behind America’s immigration system. In this episode, I explore the gap between the nation’s ideals and its exclusionary laws, tracing how race and power shaped who could become American. From the first “white only” citizenship rules and the Chinese Exclusion Act to the era of quotas, amnesty, and the harsh crackdowns of the 1990s, you’ll learn how each wave of reform left lasting marks on our society. If you want to understand today’s debates—and why they echo so many battles of the past—then take a listen. Join me for a revealing journey through the long arc of American immigration

Episode Transcript

Raheel Khan (00:00):
Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses
yearning to breathe free.
We all know those iconic wordslocated inside the pedestal of
the Statue of Liberty, thestatue itself, and later these
words were meant to conjure animage of America as a beacon of
hope open to all but.

(00:22):
Here's a powerful truth.
Many people don't realize whenthese words were first written,
the United States had justpassed the Chinese Exclusion
Act.
This wasn't some minorregulation.
It was one of our first majorfederal immigration laws, and it
didn't welcome the tired or thepoor, at least not all of them.

(00:45):
It actually banned an entirerace of people from entering the
country.
From the earliest days,America's immigration story has
been defined by a deep andpainful gap, a wide chasm
between who we say we are andhow we actually act.
Welcome back to Connecting theDots.

(01:07):
Let's continue our journey intoAmerica's immigration story.
Today's focus.
The long arc of Americanimmigration and how we got to
where we are now.
In the last episode, we exploredwhy immigration is such a
politically explosive topic inAmerica today.
This time we're going back wayback to understand the

(01:31):
foundations, how America builtthe complex, often contradictory
system we are forced to navigatethrough.
Because the story of immigrationin the US isn't just about who
we've let in crucially, it'sabout who we have kept out and
why.
For most of our nation'shistory, immigration policy

(01:53):
wasn't colorblind.
It was explicitly and oftenbrutally designed to favor one
group, white Europeans.
And if you think the themesdominating today's immigration
debates.
The fear, the claims ofinvasion, the calls for
exclusion are new.

(02:14):
Think again as we'll.
See, we have definitely beenhere before, so let's dig in.
I to truly understand where weare, we have to start at the
very beginning.
America's first immigration lawwasn't even about who could come

(02:34):
here.
It was about who could become acitizen.
The Naturalization Act of 1790explicitly granted citizenship
only to free white persons.
Let me say that again.
Not free persons, but free whitepersons from the very outset,
American citizenship.

(02:55):
Was defined by race for thatfirst century.
If you could make it to AmericanShores, you could generally
stay, but the path to trulybecoming American, the right to
own land, to vote, to build afuture for your family, that was
almost exclusively reserved forwhites.

(03:17):
This racial definition ofcitizenship was tragically
cemented in 1857 with theSupreme Court's infamous Dred
Scott decision.
The court ruled that AfricanAmericans, whether enslaved or
free, could never be citizens.
They were declared beings of aninferior order.

(03:39):
With no rights, which the whiteman was bound to respect.
This wasn't just about thelegality of slavery.
It meant free black Americanswhose families had been here for
generations were permanentlylocked out of citizenship.
It was a moral and legalcatastrophe that undeniably

(03:59):
helped push the country towardscivil war.
But then came a revolutionaryturning point after the Civil
War, the 14th Amendment.
In 1868, it declared for thefirst time, all persons born are
naturalized in the UnitedStates, and subject to the
jurisdiction thereof arecitizens of the United States

(04:20):
this was a direct powerfulrepudiation of Jed Scott
guaranteeing birthrightcitizenship regardless of race.
Or parental status.
Unfortunately, this wasn't theend of discrimination in our
country.
Far from it, even whiteimmigrants had and continued to

(04:40):
experience discrimination.
Anglo-Saxon Protestants oftensaw themselves as the real
Americans.
When Irish Catholics fled faminein the 1840s, for example, they
faced intense hostility.
They were derisively called.
A race that will never beinfused into our own.
Eastern and southern Europeanscontinue to face discrimination

(05:04):
into the 19 hundreds, but here'sthe crucial difference.
Their whiteness, despite theprejudice, still offered them a
path to eventual acceptanceprivileges that were
significantly harder to achievefor non-white groups.
The Chinese who wereinstrumental in the construction
of the US Rail Network were thefirst group to face complete

(05:27):
federal exclusion.
The Chinese exclusion Act of1882 didn't just limit Chinese
immigration.
It banded entirely and preventedChinese people already living
here from becoming citizens.
It was only supposed to last 10years.
What was extended and then madepermanent in 1902.
Finally being repealed in 1943.

(05:50):
This marked a dark milestone.
It was the first federal law inUS history to exclude people
based solely on race.
Interestingly, even with thisexclusionary act in place, the
Supreme Court in 1898.
In the United States versus JuanKim Ark ruled that birthright
citizenship did apply toeveryone born on US soil,

(06:14):
including the children ofChinese immigrants whose parents
weren't citizens.
This monumental decisionpreserved the 14th Amendment's
Promise subsequent court casesupheld this law.
Which makes Trump's recentexecutive order attempting to
abolish birthright citizenshipso controversial.
It's enshrined in theConstitution and upheld by the

(06:36):
Supreme Court, something assimple executive order cannot
eliminate.
As we moved into the early 19hundreds, federal policy became
increasingly sophisticated inits exclusion.
First, there was the 1907gentleman's agreement with
Japan, which informally buteffectively restricted the

(06:57):
influx of Japanese laborers.
Then came the 1917 ImmigrationAct, which created the sweeping
Asiatic Bard zone, effectivelyexcluding immigrants from most
of Asia and the Pacific Islands.
But the true codification ofwhite supremacy into American
law happened in the 1920s.

(07:18):
The National Origins Act of 1924established a quota system that
massively favored northern andWestern Europeans.
This same law virtually bannedAsians and Africans and severely
limited immigration fromSouthern and Eastern Europe.
Just listen to these numbers.
The United Kingdom was allottedover 65,000 immigrants per year,

(07:42):
starting in 1930 in Germany,25,000.
Poland and Italy got around6,000 each and Spain only 250.
Meanwhile, the entire continentof Asia was allowed at 1300 in
Africa, around 1200.
This wasn't an accident.

(08:03):
Congress had previouslycommissioned studies that helped
them determine the desirableracial composition of America,
the House Committee onImmigration.
Openly stated, the goal of thelaw was to preserve the basic
strain of our population.
These discriminatory policiesweren't confined to federal law.
State laws reinforced them.

(08:24):
In California, for example, the1913 Alien Land Act barred Asian
immigrants from the owning orlong-term leasing more than
three years of agriculturalland.
The laws specifically labeledthem as aliens, ineligible for
citizenship.
This law became even morerestrictive over the years and

(08:45):
became the template for similaracts in multiple other states.
Meanwhile, Europeans continue tofreely own land and build
generational wealth.
These restrictive quota systemsremained in place for an
astonishing 40 years.
It persisted through the GreatDepression World War ii.

(09:05):
And well into the civil rightsera, and it worked exactly as
intended.
Immigration from non-whitecountries slowed and America
continued to become more whiteand more Protestant.
Yet even within this rigidsystem, there were exceptions,
often driven by America'seconomic needs.

(09:26):
During World War ii, forinstance, the Bracero program
brought millions of Mexicanlaborers to American farms and
railroads.
This guest worker programcontinued until 1964, a clear
demonstration of how economicdemands could sometimes override
the powerful impulse forexclusion, but only temporarily

(09:46):
and selectively.
By the 1960s, America'sexplicitly racial immigration
system was becoming increasinglyindefensible on the global
stage.
How could the US fighting theCold War ostensibly for freedom
and democracy, continue touphold draconian immigration
laws at home?
It was a glaring, undeniablecontradiction.

(10:09):
The groundwork for change hadbeen laid in 1952 with the
Immigration and Nationality Act,also known as the McCarran
Walter Act, which consolidatedvarious immigration laws, but
maintained the discriminatorynational Origins quota system.
While it did end the completeexclusion of Asians and allowed
them to become citizens, itstill only allowed about 100

(10:31):
persons per Asian country intothe us.
So in 1965, in the midst of theCivil Rights Movement, Congress
passed major amendments to that1952 law.
These Heart Seller Actamendments.
Finally abolished the NationalOrigins formula that had shaped
American demographics fordecades.

(10:54):
The 1965 Amendments replacedracial quotas with a new system
based primarily on familyreunification and needed skills,
while also allowing for a smallnumber of refugees.
Countries from the Easternhemisphere received the same
annual cap of 20,000 immigrantsannually, each with a maximum of

(11:16):
170,000 annually combined.
While for the first time all theWestern hemisphere nations faced
a numerical limit, a combinedcap of 120,000 annually with no
individual country maximums.
But here's the thing.
Even this law, which was Bill asbeing colorblind.

(11:36):
Wasn't entirely so familyreunification, inherently
favored groups that already hadestablished communities in the
US, which at the time weremostly white Europeans.
In order to get the bill passed,some lawmakers like Senator Ted
Kennedy had to assure theircolleagues that our cities will
not be flooded with a millionimmigrants annually, and the

(12:00):
ethnic mix of this country willnot be upset.
Okay.
They were thankfully profoundlywrong.
The laws designed, enabled whatcame to be derogatory, known as
chain migration where each newcitizen could sponsor more
relatives.
Fundamentally shifting thedemographics of the country by
increasing Asian and LatinAmerican population in ways no

(12:23):
one had fully anticipated.
What lawmakers thought wouldpreserve America's existing
ethnic makeup insteadtransformed it entirely.
This is what Trump proposed toend back in his first term,
calling for an end to chainmigration and moving to a
merit-based system.

(12:43):
Fast forward to 1986, Congresspassed what would be the last
truly comprehensive immigrationreform in American history, the
Immigration Reform and ControlAct.
Often called the IRCA.
This law had three maincomponents.
First, it granted amnesty andillegal pathway to permanent

(13:04):
residency for almost 3 millionundocumented immigrants already
in the country.
Second, it made it illegal foremployers to knowingly hire
undocumented workers.
And third, it created penaltiesfor doing so.
The theory behind it wasstraight.
Forward, legalize those alreadyhere, and then turn off the

(13:26):
magnet for new undocumentedimmigration by punishing
employers who hired them.
But here's the reality, itdidn't work.
Employer sanctions were rarely,if ever enforced fake documents
became incredibly common, andfrankly, everyone just looked
the other way.
The law also largely ignoredeconomic realities.

(13:48):
American businesses still neededimmigrant labor and people in
Mexico and change Americadesperately needed jobs.
What the 1986 law did do,however, was set the template
for nearly every immigrationdebate that followed
conservatives pushed for moreenforcement while liberals
sought legalization.

(14:09):
And crucially, both sidesconsistently avoided creating
robust.
New legal pathways for futureimmigration.
The consequence, theundocumented population in the
US grew dramatically from 5million in 1986 to over 12
million today.
If 1986 was an attempt to solveI immigration, 1996 was when

(14:33):
America took a sharp, punitiveturn.
The 1990s had seen increasinglyrestrictive laws building
towards the illegal immigrationreform and immigrant
responsibility Act, a name thatjust rolls off the tongue.
This law fundamentally changedhow America treats immigrants.
It was passed in a climate ofintense fear.

(14:55):
Following the 1993 bombing atthe World Trade Center and the
1996 Oklahoma City bombing, itdramatically expanded the list
of crimes that could lead todeportation.
Now, even misdemeanors andnonviolent defenses could be
considered felonies,appallingly.
This law could be appliedretroactively, encompassing

(15:15):
previous offenses.
What does that mean?
You got arrested for a fight incollege or shoplifting,
something worth more than$10.
You could now be charged with afelony and deported.
Sound familiar?
Trump has taken a similar,although slightly different
approach with foreign students.
Instead of charging them forprevious minor offenses, he's

(15:37):
using those as grounds to revoketheir student visas.
The message is the same though.
Immigrants, you make a mistake,even a minor one, and we'll kick
you out.
The 1996 law eliminated mostforms of relief.
That once prevented deportationmandated detention for many
immigrants, and introducedexpedited removal, allowing

(16:00):
immediate deportation without ahearing for undocumented, IM
immigrants caught within 90miles of the southern border.
The impact of these changes fellhardest and disproportionately
on communities of color whileEuropean visa overstayers were
rarely targeted.
Enforcement effortsoverwhelmingly focused on Latino

(16:21):
and black immigrant communities.
In essence, this law created thepowerful sprawling detention and
deportation machine.
We know today, the 1990s alsosaw a significant shift in
border policy.
The militarization of the USMexico border initiatives like
Operation Gatekeeper in 1994ramped up border patrol presence

(16:44):
and built the first sections ofthe border wall.
This dramatic increase inenforcement purposely shifted
border crossings to moredangerous areas, hoping it would
lead to deterrence.
And paradoxically, it cementedthe death of circular migration
where workers would come and gowith the seasons, changing it
into permanent settlementbecause returning home became

(17:07):
too risky.
Then nine 11 happened and itchanged everything.
Immigration was immediatelyreframed.
Not as an economic or laborissue, but as a paramount
national security concern.
The Department of HomelandSecurity was created and took
over immigration enforcementestablishing the Immigration and

(17:28):
Customs Enforcement Agency, orICE as its dedicated arm.
This fundamental shiftsolidified the idea that
immigration was primarily aboutsecurity and threats.
Since then, immigration haslargely been trapped in a cycle
of increased enforcement andpolitical gridlock framed almost
exclusively through thissecurity lens.

(17:51):
Yet, despite this long historyof barriers and punitive
policies, here's something trulyremarkable.
Immigrants themselves havecontinued to fundamentally
transform America for thebetter.
Even with all the restrictions,hostility, and the constant
challenges, the data isoverwhelmingly clear.
Immigrants have consistentlybenefited this country.

(18:15):
Consider this first generationof immigrants typically start in
lower paying jobs and often takeon difficult labor.
But their children, the secondgeneration, often outperform
both their parents and nativeborn Americans.
We see higher graduation rates,higher incomes, and a greater

(18:36):
propensity for business startupsamong the second generation.
By the third generation,economic integration is
virtually complete regardless oftheir family's origin.
The innovation numbers are.
Impressive.
About 40% of American NobelPrize winners have been
immigrants.

(18:56):
They are twice as likely tostart businesses, hold over a
third of all US patents andcontribute more in taxes than
they consume in services.
Think about it.
We celebrate visionaryinnovators like Elon Musk, an
immigrant.
But too often overlook oroutright ignore the

(19:16):
contributions of millions ofimmigrants who help keep America
the economic and scientificglobal superpower that it is.
The truth is the creditimmigrants receive and their
path to acceptance has alwaysdepended on where they come from
and what they look like.
So.
What's the main takeaway fromthis long, complex, and often

(19:39):
painful history of Americanimmigration?
That despite how much we maywant to believe, it's not a
story of steady linear progresstowards inclusion.
Instead, it's a story defined bypersistent racial hierarchy that
we are still grappling withtoday.
For almost 200 years,immigration law explicitly
favored white Europeans andsystematically excluded

(20:01):
non-white groups.
Even after the revolutionarychanges of 1965, the systems
underlying biases remainembedded in rules like family
reunification and in thepriorities of enforcement.
Every single generation, itseems, has convinced itself that
the current wave of immigrantsis fundamentally different, more

(20:23):
dangerous, less assimilable, andmore threatening than previous
waves.
The pattern, at least for whiteimmigrant groups, has always
been the same initial hostility,followed by gradual acceptance
and eventually full integration,but for groups deemed not white
enough.
The path was and profoundlyremains far more difficult

(20:48):
Today.
We are undeniably living withthe direct consequences of this
history, the longstandingpreference for white immigrants.
The failure of the IRCA in 1986,the punitive system built in
1996, and the enforcement onlymentality that sort of
solidified after nine 11.
All of this led to the seeminglyunbreakable political gridlock.

(21:11):
That blocks meaningful reform.
Everything going on today and inevery previous generation traces
back to that single fundamentalquestion that has always driven
American immigration policy, whodeserves to be American.
Thank you for listening today.
Join me next week for the thirdepisode in this series.

(21:34):
When I examine why immigrationreform.
Has failed so completely overthe past 30 years from the
Hopeful Gang of eight effort tothe recent order Bill that
claimed to have everything bothparties wanted until politics
ultimately killed it.
If you found this episodehelpful, please take a moment to
like, subscribe and share itwith a friend.

(21:55):
Until next time, stay curious,stay critical, and stay
connected.