The effects of the US 1965 Immigration Act Introduction and Annotated bibliography - Essay Example

The effects of the US 1965 Immigration Act A little over eleven thousand bills are passed, on average, by congress every year. Most are little heardof, and go unnoticed by the general population. That is, of course, until the effects of such a bill are felt by the entire nation. This is exactly what took place when the Immigration Act of 1965 was passed. This act, highly sponsored by United States senator, Ted Kennedy, abolished the National Origins Formula that had been in place since the Immigration Act of 1924.

The primary goal of the national origins formula was to maintain the existing ethnic composition of the United States. To accomplish this it restricted immigration on the basis of how many existing proportions of the population there already were. The 1965 Act, however, set an annual limit to no more than twenty thousand from each country, regardless of how many peoples from that country already occupied the United States. By 1968 the annual limitation to any country from the Western Hemisphere was set to one hundred and twenty thousand immigrants, and visas were given on a first come-first serve basis.

The equalization of immigration policies resulted in a shift in immigration from European-Asian immigrants, to Central-South American immigrants. Immigration also doubled from 1965-1970 and then again from 1970-1990. This flux of immigrants not only changed the ethnic makeup of the United States, but with the introduction of so many to the U.S workforce it also shifted the male earnings inequalities. This prompted congress to pass the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) and the 1990 Immigration Act, in an attempt to stabilize the influx and the economy.

By taking an in-depth look at exactly what led to the passing of the Immigration Act of 1965, how it has transformed the U.S in terms of ethnic makeup and the workforce, and what Acts have been passed since/ may be passed in the future, we can fully investigate the far reaching capacity one bill being passed has on this nation. Annotated Bibliography Daniels,Roger. Coming to America: A History of Immigration an Ethnicity in American Life. 2nd ed. Princeton, NJ: Visual Education Corporation, 2002.

This book written by, Roger Daniels, Charles Phelps Taft professor of History Emeritus at the University of Cincinnati, discusses the history of immigration in the United States from colonial times to present. In this book Roger focuses mostly on facts with his main goal being to inform not persuade the reader. This statistical fact based research will add depth of knowledge and validity to my research. Reed, Deborah. "Immigration and Males' Earnings Inequality in the Regions of the United States Demography". 38. 3 (2001), 363-373, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3088352 .. (accessed April 12, 2011).

In this article author, Deborah Reed, reviews how immigration has influenced variation in inequality of pay for males across the United States. She surmises that recent immigration plays the key role in this inequality, due to the fact that it is changing the composition of the population. The author’s main purpose in this article is to persuade, however, she uses a fact based approach in doing so. I feel this source will be helpful in showing some of the possible negative affects immigration may have had on the United States.

Reimers,David M.. Unwelcome Strangers: American Identity and the Turn Against Immigration. New York: Columbia University Press, 1998. Author, David M. Reimers, uses this book to discuss the four major types of restrictionist groups. These four major groups include: those concerned about the environment; those who are rule-of-law opponents; those who argue the economic point of view, that immigration hurts similar US workers; and those who worry that today's immigrants will not be integrated in our society.

He concludes that as long as groups on both sides of the argument continue to selectively site sources that concur with their view point, then the US will continue to, "produce ad hoc [immigration] policies, just as it has in the past." (p154). This focus on the opposing views that go into creating American policies, such as the Immigration Act of 1965, makes this a valuable source in my research. "The U.S. Census Bureau." Feburary 16, 2011.http://www.census.gov/ (accessed April 12, 2011). This is a government produced website that provides the most current census information for the United States.

This is possibly the most valuable source for my research into the affects the Immigration Act of 1965 has had on our nation. Ueda,Reed. Postwar Immigrant America: A Social History. The Bedford Series in History and Culture. St. Martin's: Bedord, 1994. Author, Reed Ueda, associate professor of history at Tufts University, goes beyond a mere historical account of American immigration in the twentieth century. He instead focuses on the international forces that were at work in the mass movement of people from their home countries into America following World War II.

This focus outside American walls, and why so many American immigrants came, will make this an irreplaceable source in my research of the effects of the Immigration Act of 1965.