Since its birth, America has been declared a nation of immigrants, a refuge for those who must abandon their country, whether due to famine, religious oppression or politics, of the aspiration to own land or the opportunity for a job. However, the acceptance of newcomers has always been a discriminatory process. The history of Asian immigration to the United States is the result of racialized citizenship and naturalization policies exercised by the United States government. Being an Asian Pacific American means that you and those before you have had to fight for equality and justice. Although the idea of race has never actually been attributed to immigration laws and policies, the replicated patterns of dismissal, denial of U.S. citizenship, and unbalanced rules applied to Asian immigrants have made it very clear that their ethnic distinctness from the dominant White American was the reason behind these discriminations. For Asian-Pacific Americans, immigration has been ethnicized. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The first wave of Asian immigrants to the United States dates back to the 18th century. ( Ancheta, 2006 ). However, by the time they reached American soil, distorted representations and stereotypes of Asians were already well established. Both Europeans and Americans had these false statements deeply ingrained in their heads. This was mainly due to military encounters with people of Asian origin and mythical tales that contributed to the formation of stereotypes. During all these encounters, Asians were seen as less empowered, threatening, all equal to each other, but all very different from whites. The development of Asians as “the other” or as secondary to most white Americans has had an effect on ideas surrounding Asian immigration. This relates to the idea of “Orientalism”. Understanding the development of Asians as anthropologically dissimilar, from the “normal” that whites are and were. (Williams-Leon, 2017). This plays a role in the creation of American ideals: Asians and Asian-Pacific Americans are sometimes seen as foreign. By 1790, the United States had evolved into a highly diverse country. However, the first American immigration laws passed echo the bigoted ideas of those days. (Nakanishi, 2003). At that time Congress passed “A Uniform Standard for Naturalization” that allowed only foreign white men the privilege of becoming American citizens. (Williams-Leon, 2017). Although this law was amended several times, the prejudicial omission of nonwhites remained active until African Americans gained citizenship following the Civil War. However, Asian Americans, as well as all Asian immigrants, were still viewed as migrants, not qualifying for citizenship. Despite this, however, the Fifteenth Amendment of the Constitution declared a remarkable achievement in the face of racial inequality in America as it granted citizenship to all. born in the United States, despite parents' geographic origin or race. (US Constitution Amendment XV). American-born children born to Asian immigrants were able to take advantage of the 15th Amendment. At that time, children had achieved from birth what their parents had not been granted all their lives. Asian immigrants did not automatically tolerate denial of citizenship. In fact, in the early years of Asian immigration, several applicants succeeded..
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