The Civil Rights Movement: How It Fundamentally Altered the United States’ Immigration Policy for the Better
As we celebrate Black History Month and recognize all that the Black community has done for the betterment of the United States, it becomes evident that Black history is U.S. history. Without Black Americans’ liberation efforts and the Civil Rights Movement, our country would look very different. Millions of American immigrants and their descendants living in the U.S. today would have never made it here, due to the U.S.’s racist immigration policies, which remained in use until the Immigration and Nationality Act was passed in 1965. The Civil Rights Movement and immigration advocacy of the 1960s are deeply intertwined. Without the ideas developed and sacrifices made throughout the Civil Rights Movement by the Black community, immigration policy in the U.S. would likely have remained as it was to this day.
Immigration’s Racist History
To fully appreciate how the Civil Rights Movement fundamentally altered the U.S. immigration system, it’s important to understand the policies that were in place before President Lyndon B. Johnson passed the Immigration and Nationality Act in 1965.
Throughout the 18th and early 19th Centuries, the U.S. had a relatively open immigration system (6). During this time, hundreds of thousands of African slaves were being brought to the U.S. against their will. These slaves and their descendants were denied citizenship and treated less than human for centuries. While immigration continued to be quite open at this time, countless Native Americans were displaced and killed by the U.S. government as mass removal events, such as the Trail of Tears, took place. Native Americans’ citizenship status and rights under the U.S. remained ambiguous throughout this period from the 18th to early 19th century (4).
In 1875, ten years after the Civil War, the Supreme Court declared that immigration regulation was a federal responsibility and barred states from making immigration policy decisions. With waves of immigrants arriving in the 1880s, many U.S. citizens, who were mostly white, began blaming worsening economic conditions on them, and, as a result, Congress started to pass immigration legislation (6).
The first act that barred immigrants based on nationality was the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which suspended Chinese immigration for ten years and declared that Chinese immigrants were ineligible for naturalization, which is the act of becoming a U.S. Citizen. Laws suppressing Chinese immigration continued until 1943, when people from China were finally given their right to apply for citizenship (7).
Shortly after the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, The Alien Contract Labor Laws of 1885 and 1887 prohibited many foreign laborers under contract from entering the U.S. (6).
During the Industrial Revolution of the 1880s into the 1920s, America experienced rapid urbanization and industrialization, and more than 20 million immigrants arrived, the vast majority of whom were from Western and Northern Europe (13). In the aftermath of World War I, legislators aimed to reduce immigration as the U.S. entered an age of isolation. The Immigration Act of 1917 restricted immigration from Mexico and the Mediterranean to the Middle East and into Southeast Asia. It also implemented a literacy test for migrants over the age of 16. Mentally and physically disabled people were barred from entering the U.S. as well (9).
One of the biggest policy changes, which remained intact until the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965, was the Immigration Act of 1924. This act implemented a quota system. The quota limited immigration visas to 2% of the total number of people of each nationality already present in the U.S. as of the 1890 national census. The quota clearly favored Western and Northern Europeans, who had experienced the largest waves of immigration since 1890. The quota system, in other words, completely favored white immigrants (2, 7). 1924 was also the year that the Indian Citizenship Act was implemented, which gave Native Americans their right to naturalize; although, some states found ways around this (4).
It was not until the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965 that the 1924 quota system was abolished and replaced with our current immigration system. The new system prioritizes refugees, people with special skills, and those with family already in the U.S. It also forbids discrimination in issuance of visas based on race, sex, nationality, place of birth, or place of residence. While the current system isn’t perfect, it has allowed for hundreds of thousands of immigrants to enter the U.S. who would have otherwise never been granted entry (2, 10).
So, what caused this huge shift in immigration policy in 1965? It is no coincidence that the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 was passed at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, just months after the Voting Rights Act was passed. It could not have happened without the sacrifices of Black Americans who put their lives on the line to fight for racial justice and human rights. Their actions inspired and empowered immigration advocates during the 1960s, leading to the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965.
How the Civil Rights Movement Impacted Immigration Advocacy and Policy
After the Civil War ended and slavery was abolished in 1865, the U.S. passed several constitutional amendments to increase racial equality. The 14th Amendment of the Constitution gave Black people equal protection under the law in 1868, and in 1870, the 15th Amendment granted Black American men the right to vote. However, with racial tensions still high throughout much of the U.S., Jim Crow laws were passed. These laws made interracial marriage illegal, created separate public spaces for White and Black people, and suppressed voting by implementing voter literacy tests. On top of the many oppressive laws, Black Americans have experienced violence at the hands of the police and white supremacist individuals and organizations throughout U.S. history. The persistent segregation and violence towards Black people led to the Civil Rights movement taking place in the 1950s and 1960s.
The Civil Rights Movement was a nation-wide effort for social justice for Black Americans. The movement created new ideas and normalized certain language in the public space that helped immigration reform advocates pass the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965.
Some of the most important changes to come out of the Civil Rights Movement were the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which both shortly preceded the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 guaranteed equal employment for all, integrated public facilities, and limited use of voter literacy tests. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 sent federal examiners to certain voting jurisdictions to help prevent further Black voter suppression, and it completely banned all voter literacy tests. This ban allowed for more non-English speaking immigrants, as well as Black, White, and Native American citizens who were illiterate in English, to vote. The Voting Rights Act also abolished poll taxes, where people had to pay to vote (5).
Before the Civil Rights Movement, politicians who advocated for equality for more than just white people were far less common. Due to the inspiring speeches and actions and countless sacrifices of Black Americans during the Civil Rights movement, the idea that the U.S. should be a white country became taboo, and judging others based on their skin tone became unacceptable (2). Additionally, domestic issues became culturally relevant, paving the way for the public to empathize with immigrants who wanted to be reunited with their faraway families (7).
When President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 under the Statue of Liberty, he declared, “The [old] system violates the basic principles of American democracy, the principle that values and rewards each man on the basis of his merit as a man. It has been un-American in the highest sense, because it has been untrue to the faith that brought thousands to these shores even before we were a country” (2). This quote demonstrates how President Johnson utilized the idea that a man should be judged on the basis of merit, rather than race or nationality, to advocate for immigrant rights. It is an idea that many Civil Rights leaders developed for their own movement but that has spread to many other movements as well, such as immigration advocacy.
The Civil Rights Movement also demonstrated to immigration reform advocates at the time that framing their argument in an economic light was an effective strategy. Lyndon B. Johnson stated in a speech as he advocated for the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 that “It does not affect the daily lives of millions...it will not reshape the structure of our daily lives or add importantly to either our wealth or power” (10). He wanted to show the nation that citizens’ domestic lives would remain unharmed. Another proponent of the act was Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), who told the Senate during the debate, “It will not cause American workers to lose their jobs” (10). The tactic of framing a movement’s argument economically in the US was developed throughout the Civil Rights Movement and is a big reason that the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 was passed (8). It showed the public that they could be comfortable and not face harsh economic conditions as a result of people of color gaining more rights.
Without the Civil Rights Movement, and without the courage and creativity of Black Americans, the blueprints for making lasting change in the U.S. for underserved communities would not exist. The U.S. would likely look just as segregated and white as it did before 1965, and hundreds of thousands of immigrants and their descendants would not be here today.
In Conclusion, Black History and Black Lives Matter
As the Black Lives Matter movement continues to grow in the present day, so to should our appreciation for Black History. The ideas and strategies that emerged from the Civil Rights Movement not only positively affected Black people’s lives, but they helped to uplift other marginalized communities. Every person who is in the U.S. today as a result of the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act is here because of the sacrifices that the Black community made. We owe it to them to recognize all that they have done for immigrants in this country, and all they continue to do by spreading their message of hope and equality.
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