Essay On Asian American Naturalization

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Naturalization The question is no longer, “How do people become Americans?” but rather “How has America become its people?” Since the days of the colonies, the United States was viewed as the land of opportunity, a globalized estate that was a safe heaven from political tyranny, social prosecution, and economical struggles. As the United States matured however the tolerance of immigrants quickly fell, leaving the White Anglo Saxon Protestant to be the desired people of the land. The image of the country of immigrants that was the building block of the constitution all but excelled. This paper will seek to highlight race-biased legislation as well as feature critical trials in the struggle for equal rights among Asian Americans. From the 1840s…show more content…
Due to Japans global power and presence, the US did not want to harshly enforce an exclusion act; rather both sides signed a Gentleman’s Agreement that terminated the flow of Japanese laborers, but allowed for the immigration of Japanese woman. South Asian Indians were excluded in 1917 with the passage of an immigration act which established the Asian barred zone, a geographical region, mainly comprising East, South, Southeast Asia, the Asian part of Russia and parts of Persia, from which immigration was no longer allowed. (Walter 2007). In the famous case of Ozawa v. U.S. (1922), Takao Ozawa argues that not only has he lived in the US his whole life, but he also sent his children to American schools and taught them only English, and was not familiar (or familiarized his children) with Japanese customs or language. The Supreme Court ultimately held that Ozawa was not eligible because [T]he intention [of the naturalization acts from 1790 on] was to confer the privilege of citizenship upon that class of persons whom the fathers knew as white, and to deny it to all who could not be so
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