CHAPTER 1 SECTION 2

WHO ARE U.S. CITIZENS?Essential Question: Who are U.S. citizens?

America was built on immigration.

Due to America having a long history of accepting people as immigrants from many countries around the world, America has been refer to as a “melting pot” or “salad bowl.”

Immigrants: People who move to a new country to settle as permanent residents

American Immigration over 100s of years:

20,000 BC Until 1492 – Native Americans and their ancestors migrated to America via a land bridge that form over the Bering Sea during the last ice age

1492: Christopher Columbus lands in the Caribbean Islands bringing forth the Americas (the New World) first contact with Europe

1620: European settlers known as Pilgrims arrive by the Mayflower. The settle just north of Boston, Massachusetts. Close to present day Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

1850: The first big wave of immigrantion takes place in the now established United States. A lot people from Britian, Ireland, and Germany (European Nations) come to America.

1900: Immigrants from Southern and Eastern European countries start coming to the United States in large numbers.

Present-Day: Immigration from Latin America is widely popular

Immigration Policy

Until the 1880s there was very little or no rules about limiting immigration to America

The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was the first major formal policy. It focused specifically on Chinese Immigration. It limited the amount accepted and their citizenship and property rights in America

In the 1920s, Congress focused on setting quotas for immigration.

Quota: a set number, such as for immigrants who may enter a country in a year

The quotas would change from time to time over the years.

1990: The Immigration Act of 1990 established a total annual quota of immigrants to 675,000 since 1995.

Also, it gave immigration advantage to immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, highly skilled workers, and established aliens

Aliens: people who live in a nation but are not citizens of that nation

Becoming a U.S. Citizen

Native-born: a person who has citizenship based on birth in the United States or its territories

87.5 of Americans are Native-born citizens

Naturalization: the legal process by which aliens become citizens

Naturalized citizens have all the same rights expect being allowed to become president or vice president

Native-born citizenship usually also applies to Americans who were born outside of the United States boundaries, but both parents are U.S. citizens

The Process of Naturalization

1: Apply for permanent visa (also known as a Green Card): one must have a job or family to apply

2: Apply for citizenships: one must submit the proper forms

3: Get fingerprinted

4: Be interviewed, pass tests on civics, U.S. history, and English

5: Take the Oath of Allegiance to the United States

Aliens: an estimate 21.7 million people live in America as of 2009 with citizenship. They must carry a identification card, a green card, at all times.

Illegal Immigrants: undocumented residents. They have no citizenships.

No one knows exactly how many illegal immigrants are in the U.S. The U.S. government thinks there’s around 8 million

Refugees: immigrants who the U.S. accepts due to them trying to escape dangers in their home country.

They don’t count towards set immigration qoutas.