7/30/2019 Immigration Jews http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/immigration-jews 1/4 The United States is a nation built by immigrants, beginning with the frst European settlers. Each successive wave o immigration has challenged Americans to reconsider and expand their defnition o who is American, rom the German immigrants o the early 19th century, the Jewish and Mediterranean immigrants o the early 20th century, to the Arican, Indian, and Mexican immigrants o the late 20th century. Many laws -- including the Chinese Exclusion Act o 1882 and the Immigration Act o 1924 -- restricted the number o immigrants who were not rom Northern or Western Europe. These quotas were designed to keep out racial and cultural “undesirables,” such as Asians, Jews, and Italians. Current law provides or three primary categories o people eligible to immigrate to the U.S.: Individuals seeking to rejoin amily members People who possess certain work skills Those who seek entry or humanitarian reasons (i.e. reugees) Roughly one million legal immigrants are admitted to the U.S. each year. The Institute or Jewish Leadership and Values o Immigration “When strangers sojourn with you in your land, you shall not do them wrong. The strangers who sojourn with you shall be to you as the natives among you, and you shal love them as yourself; for you wer strangers in the land of Egypt” - Leviticus 19:3 Immigration History From the beginning o America’s history, American attitudes towards immigration have diered between hospitality and hostility – between the impulse to welcome new immigrants and the desire to limit immigration to protect the interests o those already here. 16% 14% 10% 8% 6% 4% 2% 0% 1850 1890 1910 1950 1970 2010 U.S. Foreign-born Population 12% Is immigration beneficial or detrimental to the United States? Some argue that because it is perceived that immigrants are willing to work or less money than American citizens, their presence artifcially orces wages down and that immigrants take jobs that citizens would otherwise fll. Proponents o immigration assert that most immigrants take jobs that are so menial and low paying that most Americans would not accept them anyway, and that the low-cost labor that immigrants provide helps to keep many small U.S. companies in business. Some advocates or limiting immigration claim that those immigrants n arriving rom places like Asia and Latin America are not assimilating. Social and economic conditions in the U.S. play an important role in determining the openness o America’s borders. Immigrants are oten used as scapegoats during times o economic hardship.
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The United States is a nation built by immigrants, beginning with
the frst European settlers. Each successive wave o immigration has
challenged Americans to reconsider and expand their defnition o who
is American, rom the German immigrants o the early 19th century, the
Jewish and Mediterranean immigrants o the early 20th century, to the
Arican, Indian, and Mexican immigrants o the late 20th century.
Many laws -- including the Chinese Exclusion Act o 1882 and the
Immigration Act o 1924 -- restricted the number o immigrants who were
not rom Northern or Western Europe. These quotas were designed to keep
out racial and cultural “undesirables,” such as Asians, Jews, and Italians.
Current law provides or three primary categories o people eligible to
immigrate to the U.S.:
Individuals seeking to rejoin amily membersPeople who possess certain work skills
Those who seek entry or humanitarian reasons (i.e. reugees)
Roughly one million legal immigrants are admitted to the U.S. each year.
The Institute or Jewish Leadership and Values o
Immigration“When strangers sojourn with
you in your land, you shall not
do them wrong. The strangers who
sojourn with you shall be to you as
the natives among you, and you shal
love them as yourself; for you wer
strangers in the land of Egypt”
- Leviticus 19:3
Immigration History
From the beginning o America’s history, American attitudes towards immigration have dieredbetween hospitality and hostility – between the impulse to welcome new immigrants andthe desire to limit immigration to protect the interests o those already here.
16%
14%
10%
8%
6%
4%
2%
0%
1850 1890 1910 1950 1970 2010
U.S. Foreign-born Population
12%
Is immigration beneficial or detrimental to the United States?Some argue that because it is perceived that immigrants are willing to work
or less money than American citizens, their presence artifcially orces wages
down and that immigrants take jobs that citizens would otherwise fll.
Proponents o immigration assert
that most immigrants take jobs that
are so menial and low paying that
most Americans would not accept them
anyway, and that the low-cost labor
that immigrants provide helps to keep
many small U.S. companies in business.
Some advocates or limiting immigration claim that those immigrants n
arriving rom places like Asia and Latin America are not assimilating.
Social and economic conditions in the U.S. play an important role in
determining the openness o America’s borders. Immigrants are oten
used as scapegoats during times o economic hardship.
There are diferent ways that you can helpaddress the challenges we ace with theimmigration–through service (avodah dcear ),philanthropy (tzedakah dwcv ) and advocacy(tzedek wcv ). Below is a small menu o ideas.
Service/Avodah
Philanthropy/Tzedakah
Advocacy/Tzedek
Think and Discuss:1) Immigration-related issues divide policy makers and political activists on many ronts. There are tens o thousands o undocumented immigrant teenagers who graduate rom
American high schools each year. Many o these students dream o attending college, yet their immigration status bars them rom many resources (including in-state tuition to local
universities and ederal fnancial aid). Do you think that these high school graduates should have access to fnancial aid? Should it matter which country they are rom or why they arein the U.S.?
2) As American Jews, our understanding o the history o America’s immigration policy includes events such as the turning away o the Jewish passengers aboard the ship the St. Louis,
which was sent back to Europe causing most o its passengers to perish in the Holocaust, and then the signifcant number o Soviet Jews who arrived on American shores in the late
1980s and early 1990s. Nevertheless, some Jews do ear that the rate o both legal and illegal immigration has exploded and must be curbed. How do those two events in the history
o Jewish Immigration in America rame your thinking around immigration today? Why should an immigrant ever be turned away?
3) Recent attempts to limit the benefts received by illegal immigrants also raise important ethical questions: Do those who are violating civil law qualiy as “strangers or special
protection and sensitivity”? Is it in the best interest o American citizens to protect their own jobs, quality o lie and incomes by denying services to illegal immigrants? I Americans
deny health services to the children o illegal immigrants, do we violate the all-important commandment o pikuach nefesh– to save lives at practically any cost?
4) In the age o terrorism, how do we ocus on and enhance America’s sense o security while staying committed to immigrants and reugees? Does our understandable ear o terrorist
attacks and the act that we have tens o thousands o troops stationed in Aghanistan and Iraq justiy a closed door policy towards immigrants in general? What about a closed door
policy or people rom specifc countries?
dcear
dwcv
wcv
Tutor new immigrants in English.
Form a buddy program at your school or students who have recently
arrived in the U.S.
Volunteer or a local organization that works with reugees.
Contact local immigrant service and reugee organizations to
learn about their needs. Your local Federation’s Jewish Family and
Children’s Services works with reugees o all backgrounds.
Immigrants live in nearly every community in the United States.
When immigrants with reugee status frst arrive, they have only a
ew months to get settled into a home and fnd work beore ederal
fnancial support runs out. Reugee centers seek the generosity
o the community to help care or and settle these amilies. Some
direct service you could provide includes:
Raise money or local organizations that serve immigrantsand reugees.
Donate to the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), the Jewish
community’s primary organization working on immigration issues.
Their Young Leaders program has opportunities to get involved.
The ollowing are some advocacy organizations on both sides o the
Immigration debate:
Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (www.hias.org) advocates on behal o
immigrants and reugees at the international, national and community levels.
HIAS provides advice and counseling, political advocacy, legal representation
and has resettled millions o Jews rom around the world.
National Immigration Forum (www.immigrationforum.org)
advocates or the value o immigrants and immigration to the nation.
NIF works to aect public policy, uniy amilies, and encourage naturalization.
The Center or Immigration Studies (www.cis.org) studies the
consequences o legal and illegal immigration into the United States.
CIS advocates or a “low-immigration, pro-immigrant” vision o an America
that admits ewer immigrants but aords a warmer welcome or those who
are admitted.
National Council o La Raza (www.nclr.org) is the premier Latino rights
organization. NCLR calls or nondiscriminatory immigration policies at theborders and within the United States. They monitor access and eciency
o naturalization process, and oppose guest worker programs and supports