Discussion Board

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The big question to think about – and be prepared discuss in class -- is why there was a rise in nativism around 1920. What was going in the country around then? Think about what Gerber wrote, that the doors are open to immigrants when the business community (industry) is expanding and they need workers and that the doors close when there are no jobs. Closed doors is one thing. The question is why a rise in nativism – that kind we are witnessing today?  

• Ngai describes the borders between the US and Mexico and the US and Canada as “soft” before the 1920s. What does she mean by that? And why do they “harden” in the 1920s?
• Why and how did the Immigration Acts of 1921 and 1924 create a new class of persons termed “illegal aliens?” Why does she use the term “illegal aliens?”

The Border Patrol was formed after the passage of the 1924 Immigration Act. What kinds of men were hired to patrol the Mexican-US border and what did the border patrol do?  

Ngai writes that after the Immigration Acts were passed in Congress, the practice of deportation changed. This was not the first time that people were deported from the U.S. Who was deported before the 1920s – and for what reasons? What changed with the new Immigration Acts?  And most importantly, why were there new restrictions on immigration?