Immigration to the United States Was Not Always ‘Illegal’

 

As Americans celebrate their national holiday this week, the debate about who belongs in the country continues.

Recently, the Supreme¹ Court of the United States ruled that the government can restrict travel by citizens from five Muslim-majority countries. And President Donald Trump² says he is enforcing a “zero-tolerance” policy on immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border without documentation.

Activists³ have objected to the policy, especially to border officials separating children from their parents.

Reporter Becky Little points out that discussions about immigration have been part of American life for most of the nation’s existence. What has changed over time is how the U.S. has dealt with immigrants and what it calls them.

Little says the term “illegal immigrants” is relatively⁴ new. She notes that, before the U.S. Constitution was approved, the people who came here were not immigrants. They were settlers seeking to create their own laws and enslaved Africans who came against their will. Little observes that “American immigration didn’t really begin until the late 1700s, when the United States became an independent nation.”

For about 80 years, most people who wanted to move to the U.S. faced few official restrictions⁵. But Little points out that does not mean they were always welcome. Some Americans objected to Irish and Italian immigrants because they were Roman Catholic. They also blamed Chinese workers for low wages and the country’s economic problems.

In answer, the federal government set the first legal restrictions on immigration. The Chinese Exclusion⁶ Act of 1882 banned most Chinese people from settling permanently⁷ in the U.S. For Americans, this ban led to the idea that the Chinese-born people they met could be in the country illegally.

In the following years, lawmakers approved policies barring people from other parts of Asia. They also limited the number of overall immigrants, especially those coming from Southern and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

But there were few restrictions on people from Mexico who immigrated⁸ to or worked in the United States. That changed in 1965 when U.S. lawmakers passed a major immigration reform. The law made moving to the U.S. easier for some groups, but more difficult for people from Mexico.

Even with the restrictions, the number of people entering the country from Mexico did not drop sharply. In the 1950s and 1960s, some Americans freely called Mexicans “wetbacks.” The term was meant to suggest that a person seeking work in the U.S. had crossed through the Rio Grande River instead of entering the country officially.

The Washington Post notes that by the 1970s, the term “wetback” was widely considered to be insulting. Activists suggested the media and government use terms like “illegal aliens” or “illegal entrants.” Many officials accepted their advice. Even the Supreme Court began using the adjective “illegal” to describe people from any country who entered the U.S. without official approval.

But in the 1990s, the term “illegal alien” began losing some of its popularity. Some media organizations dropped it from their style books. They argued that actions can be illegal, but not people themselves.

In 2009, one of the high court’s justices, Sonya Sotomayor, officially used the term “undocumented immigrant” instead. She said the word “illegal” can make people think that “immigrants are all criminals” like robbers and murderers. In fact, a 2012 Supreme Court decision found that being in the U.S. without authorization⁹ is not a crime -- it is a civil offense¹⁰.

However, the act of crossing into the U.S. incorrectly is a more serious violation¹¹, called a misdemeanor. But it is not as serious a felony, an act of violent crime.

In April of 2018, the Trump administration began bringing criminal charges against adults who did not use an official entry point into the U.S. President Trump has also helped bring the term “illegal immigrant” back into the media and public debate. He has used the term as a political candidate, in official statements as president, and on social media.

In June, Trump used Twitter to accuse the Democratic Party of not caring about crime. He said Democrats¹³ wanted “illegal immigrants, no matter how bad they may be, to pour into and infest¹⁴ our Country.”

In answer, one Virginia congressman¹⁵ tweeted back his objections to both the president’s immigration policies and his language. Democrat¹² Don Beyer noted¹⁶ that the verb “infest” is usually related to rats, mice, and other animals generally considered undesirable¹⁷.

I’m Jonathan Evans.

Words in This Story

style – n. the way that written words are spelled, capitalized, etc.

authorization – n. legal or official approval

misdemeanor – n. a crime that is not very serious

felony – n. a serious crime (such as murder or rape)

infest – v. to be in a place in large numbers

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

3 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

5 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

6 exclusion   

n.拒绝，排除，排斥，远足，远途旅行

参考例句：

• Don't revise a few topics to the exclusion of all others.不要修改少数论题以致排除所有其他的。
• He plays golf to the exclusion of all other sports.他专打高尔夫球，其他运动一概不参加。

7 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

8 immigrated   

v.移入( immigrate的过去式和过去分词 )；移民

参考例句：

• He immigrated from Ulster in 1848. 他1848年从阿尔斯特移民到这里。 来自辞典例句
• Many Pakistanis have immigrated to Britain. 许多巴基斯坦人移居到了英国。 来自辞典例句

9 authorization   

n.授权，委任状

参考例句：

• Anglers are required to obtain prior authorization from the park keeper.垂钓者必须事先得到公园管理者的许可。
• You cannot take a day off without authorization.未经批准你不得休假。

10 offense   

n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪

参考例句：

• I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
• His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。

11 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

12 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

13 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 infest   

v.大批出没于；侵扰；寄生于

参考例句：

• Several animals in sea water can infest wood.海水中有好多动物能侵害木材。
• A lame cat is better than a swift horse when rats infest the palace.宫殿有鼠患，瘸猫比快马强。

15 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

16 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

17 undesirable   

adj.不受欢迎的，不良的，不合意的，讨厌的；n.不受欢迎的人，不良分子

参考例句：

• They are the undesirable elements among the employees.他们是雇员中的不良分子。
• Certain chemicals can induce undesirable changes in the nervous system.有些化学物质能在神经系统中引起不良变化。