To what extent did the impact that immigration had on USA change in the years 1917-80?

• The 1911 Dillingham Commission investigation on impact of immigration concluded that immigration was a threat to US society
• The Emergency Quota Act set limits on number of immigrants


  1921
• Americans of Italian, German, Japanese nationality who were classed as 'enemy aliens', especially Japanese after Pearl Harbour bombardment
• Fewer than 1% of Italians/Germans were interned, but business owners who had German, Italian sounding names (even if they weren't) had their windows smashed
• Tracking illegal immigrants was costly and made the public feel like immigrants were a big problem
• Many thought immigrants were destroying the economy, but by 1980 people wanted isolationist policies
• Immigrants could influence politics during the Depression, as they voted for Roosevelt
• After the fall of Saigon, USA took in 130,000 Vietnamese refugees


  1975
• The number of Vietnamese refugees increased to 700,000 due to additional legislation


  1985
• In 1914, there were 1,300 foreign language newspapers published
• Some 2nd Gen Japanese were allowed to join the US Army, including Admiral Chester Nimitz (German)
• Many immigrant parents encouraged their children to work
• In the 1970s, there were about 645,000 jobs created in LA and 1/3 were taken by Mexicans
• However, many immigrants ended up with low paid jobs and were exploited
• In the 1920s, employers could exploit illegal migrants for cheap labour through threats of deportation