A glimpse into the history of Asian population migration to the United States by Valerie Etienne-Leveille The Asian population in the United States is very diverse because Asian-Americans can trace their roots to more than 20 different countries in East Asia, Southern Asia, and the Indian subcontinent (1). Asian migration to North America started before the Colonial period because many European countries were using their power to influence Asian countries and collect a cheap workforce (2). Many Asian people were recruited by force and traveled across the sea to provide extremely cheap labor for these powerful countries.
Map of Asia
Courtesy of geology.com (3)
Countries in Asia: Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, China, East Timor, Georgia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen.
By the late 19th century, nearly 300,000 Chinese indentured laborers had entered the United States to work in the transcontinental railroad, mines, and agriculture (4). Indentured laborers were individuals who worked on a five-year contract with low wages and lived in substandard conditions. Most of the Chinese immigrants worked mainly in the American West (California) but some ventured in the American South for agriculture and railroad work until the Chinese Exclusion Act eliminated this migration in 1882 (5). The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 suspended Chinese migration to the U.S. and declared Chinese immigrants ineligible for naturalization (6). The Americans in the West coast shared concerns of maintaining white “racial purity” and attributed declining wages, and economic ills to Chinese laborers even though they comprised 0.002 percent of the nation’s population (7). The 1924 National Origins Act, also known as the Johnson-Reed Act, established quotas to limit the number of immigrants allowed entry in the United States (7). The 1924 Immigration Act allowed entry primarily to the British, Germans, Irish, and the Scandinavians (5). The 1924 Immigration Act provided smaller quotas to the immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe and completely excluded immigrants from Asia.
VALERIE ETIENNE-LEVEILLE 1
President Coolidge signing the Johnson-Reed Act Photo from the Office of the Historian (7).
The Immigration and National Act of 1965, also known as the Hart-Celler Act, was signed by President Lyndon Johnson and this new policy eliminated ethnicity and race as barriers for migrating to the United States. The new law capped the number of annual visas at 290,000 and included a restriction of 20,000 visas per country per year (8). The Immigration and National Act of 1965 included the “family reunification clause” which provided opportunities for immigrants from Asian countries to join relatives in the U.S. Immigrants from Asian countries took advantage of the new opportunities that this law created to join their relatives in the United States. With this new law, annual immigration jumped to around 500,000 people with only 20 percent coming from Europe. The Asian- Americans are projected to become the largest immigrant group in the United States by 2055 (1). It is estimated that in 50 years, Asian- Americans will make up 38 percent of all U.S. immigrants and they continue to contribute greatly to every sector in the United States.
References
1. Lopez, G. Ruiz, N. & Patten, E. (2017, September 8). Key facts about Asian Americans, a diverse and growing population. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/04/29/key-facts-about-asian-americans/
2. Sunbelt Florida. (n.d.). History of Asian Migration into Florida. https://sites.google.com/site/sunbeltflorida/home/history-of-asian- migration-into-florida
3. Geology.com. (n.d.) Asia Map and Satellite Image. https://geology.com/world/asia-satellite-image.shtml
4. Mohl, R. (1996). Asian Immigration to Florida. The Florida Historical Quarterly, 74(3), 261-286. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30148847
5. Goel, M. (n.d.). Asian Americans. University of West Florida. https://uwf.edu/media/university-of-west- florida/colleges/cassh/departments/government/pdf/Asian-Americans.pdf
6. History.com. (2021, March 17). Chinese Exclusion Act. A&E Television Networks. https://www.history.com/topics/immigration/chinese-exclusion-act-1882
7. Office of the Historian. (n.d.). The Immigration Act of 1924 (The Johnson-Reed Act). United States Department of State. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1921-1936/immigration-act
8. History, Art & Archives. (1965, October 3). Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. United States House of Representatives. https://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1951-2000/Immigration-and-Nationality-Act-of-1965/
VALERIE ETIENNE-LEVEILLE 2