How growing up in the U.S. immigration system shapes how these young Americans vote

"Americans encouraged relatively free and open immigration during the 18th and early 19th centuries, and rarely questioned that policy until the late 1800s. After certain states passed immigration laws following the Civil War, the Supreme Court in 1875 declared regulation of immigration a federal responsibility. Thus, as the number of immigrants rose in the 1880s and economic conditions in some areas worsened, Congress began to pass immigration legislation.

The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and Alien Contract Labor laws of 1885 and 1887 prohibited certain laborers from immigrating to the United States. The general Immigration Act of 1882 levied a head tax of fifty cents on each immigrant and blocked (or excluded) the entry of idiots, lunatics, convicts, and persons likely to become a public charge."

There really wasn't a formal immigration structure until the late 1800s, early 1900s and for generations lots of people were excluded from immigration or citizenship. Also let's not forget citizenship doesn't always protect one from the government - i.e., Japanese Americans put in concentration camps in WWII.

Oh and the fact that people who were on this land before it was colonized were not granted citizenship and had their land stolen from them and their people killed by genocide.

Ultimately let's stop with this "Do It ThE RighT WAY" bs because our immigration system today is so convoluted and a hot mess that it takes decades for some to get citizenship. Or there are people who did it "legally" and are now undocumented because the laws are messed up. Congress needs to do some serious immigration law reform.

Yes, we are, but most of us entered the country LEGALLY, adjusted, adapted , and followed the laws!

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel thanks for the share.