Immigration Laws: Why These Matter

Immigration history is all about you. Laws passed more than 200 years ago still have an impact on your life, your family, your home town. How much do you know about your state's history? About your family's history? And where would you go to find some answers?

Immigration has been an important and contentious political issue since the founding of the United States. In the eighteenth century, federal law did not restrict the admission of most aliens, especially those from northern Europe. However, several government leaders were unhappy with this kind of open immigration policy. They responded by legislating a ban on importing slaves in order to discourage immigration from Africa and the Caribbean. The presence of other non-English speaking groups also caused concern. For example, Benjamin Franklin was one of several politicians who reacted to the number of German-speaking immigrants then living in the eastern United States. He said:
And now they are coming to our country in great numbers. Few of their children know English. They bring in much of their own reading from their homeland and print newspapers in their own language. In some parts of our state, ads, street signs, and even some legal documents are in their own language and allowed in courts. Unless the stream of these people can be turned away from their country to other countries, they will soon outnumber us so that we will not be able to save our language or our government.

Questions to think about: Are any of these same concerns - about language, or the number of immigrants in the state - ever expressed in your local newspaper or on television? What do politicians in Indiana say about state-wide immigration policies? What immigration laws are in force in this state? Who controls immigration policy - municipal, state or federal governments?

Indiana Historical Society