The Chinese Exclusion Act and “Muslim Ban” contain similar characteristics to one another which allows the audience to easily distinguish the relationship between the two. The Muslim Ban refers to the President Trump’s executive orders on January 27, 2017, which prohibited certain countries from entering the United States based off an attempt to limit “radical Islamic terrorists” (adl.org). Ironically, Trump has repeatedly mentioned that this attempt to strength national security doesn’t target a specific ethnic group, but the seven countries that were banned from entering the U.S consist of predominantly Muslim communities. Similarly, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 targeted Chinese men and women, which prohibited them from entering the U.S until it eventually was repealed in 1943. Even though both sets of laws occurred in different time periods, they clearly display similar attributes of discrimination towards a specific ethnic group which only furthers the notion that Trump’s executive orders and the Chinese Exclusion Act were morally unjust.
The Chinese Exclusion Act is not only a cringeworthy aspect of history because of its exclusion of Chinese men and women, but it was the “first significant law restricting immigration into the United States” (history.com). Although its primary focus was to strengthen national security against “agents of a foreign country,” the Act was also put into effect in order to regulate, and decrease, the amount of “skilled and unskilled laborers and Chinese employed in mining” (ourdocuments.gov). Furthermore, by initiating the law and prohibiting Chinese workers to enter the U.S, Congress essentially labeled them as individuals whose only purpose is to work. According to Asia Times, the logic from Congress’ point of view was that “immigrants [were] mostly workers, seen as articles of commerce in that broad sense” (atimes.com). Through this, it is extremely relevant and clear why many AAPI communities in today’s society can create the proper distinction between the Chinese Exclusion Act and all its discriminatory actions, to the Muslim Ban which was placed in effect earlier this year.
On January 27, President Trump signed an executive order that banned seven countries from entering the United States. The action received a great deal of outrage from diverse communities across the nation because of the widespread belief that it was unjust to ban multiple countries that consisted of a majority of Muslim people. Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Tom Perez reacted to Trump’s attempt of a travel ban stating, “Trump’s obsession with religious discrimination is disgusting, un-American, and outright dangerous” (Perez). In essence, Trump is promoting discriminatory practices by advocating for the ban of certain countries, and Muslim men, women, and children, to enter the U.S based on unjust assumptions that by doing so, terrorist threats will incredibly decrease. Instead of encouraging all ethnic groups to rejoice and be able to live with one another, Trump is publicizing separation between communities as a solution to terrorism.
Both the Chinese Exclusion Act and the “Muslim Ban” can be evidently identified as discriminatory actions towards particular ethnic groups; one towards Chinese people, while the other towards Muslim individuals. According to Asian Times, the primary similarity between the two acts involve the prejudiced idea that Chinese or Muslim people were “unable to assimilate” into American society. In addition, it is made known that Trump’s absurd logic regarding Muslims in today’s society and Chinese people from over a century ago is reminiscent of each other because they both “follow a hateful religion” and “don’t love America” (atimes.com). In an article from the Boston Globe, Jeffrey D. Sachs offers a different perspective on Trump’s travel ban attempt stating, “The real goal is to fan the perception among Trump’s political base that Islam is an existential threat to Western civilization” (Sachs). In this way, Sachs indicates how incredibly outrageous it refuse accepting Muslim refugees who are trying to flee wars that the U.S clearly “instigated”; Sachs refers to the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lybia, and Syria.
Communities in America have the challenging time, with the implementation of the executive order from the administration that slabs the noncitizens from seven countries(Hsu). This law was aimed to base on the national origin and was being used as the strategy for ethnicity, race, or religion. This was the political message to all these groups(Hsu). The AAPI community had been banged in the history of America either for entering or for exiting the country, by the US government(Hsu). One other aspect of this law is the ban of the terrorists to enter the US, using this law(“Executive Order Protecting The Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States”). This was the reason given in the notification, by the president, and included the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq., and section 301 of title 3, to explain this(“Executive Order Protecting The Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States”).
The same is the effects of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, that also banned all classes of the immigrants of China. Even the Chinese workers had been very productive in the American history, with having the role in Transcontinental Railroad. This is the very important development in the America that knit all the Americans via this opportunity, given to them by the Chinese residing in the American country(Hsu). This was also based on the race and discrimination being done with them under this order.
There are also moments in the history that stopped this discrimination. For instance, in 1965, there was the end of the immigration policy, which gave the pause to this discrimination policy (Hsu). Also, there was Vietnamese in Americans in 1970 that were the sufferer of the war, proved that Americans could have diverse communities (Hsu).
With the help of the executive order, the government has the aim of having the changes in the policy and procedure of visa-issuance process. There will be a new selection and inspection protocols and procedures related to the processing of the visa. This helps in United States Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP); aim to detect the foreign terrorist presence. Thus, by improving the screening policy, the government will be perfect in controlling the presence of the terrorists in the country.
The details of the order contain the blockage of the entry of the immigrants from the seven countries that are the Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, all Muslim countries and have the highest and alarming terrorist activity rates. These countries are nominated under the section 217(a)(12) of the INA, and also under 8 U.S.C. 1187(a)(12) (“Executive Order Protecting The Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States”). These all references deal with the limited use of the visa by Congress sanctioned to the Iraq or the country elected by the Secretary of State being the terrorist country as the Iran, Syria and the Sudan are nominated. There were also three more countries that were designated as not the same countries for the purpose of traveling.
These are the Libya, Somalia, and Yemen. This classification is based on three statutory factors that have the link with the terrorism and national security. The country is nominated as the one that people cannot enter the US if these people prove to be the threat to the national security of the US. If the country has the organization that is the threat to the US, belonging from this country. Moreover, if that country serves as the safe place for the terrorist activities, then the US will nominate it as the riskier country. There is also the objection from the Congress related to the visa processing procedure of that particular country. This was done by exercising the authority, under the article II of the Constitution as well as under section 212(f) of the INA. This article states that if the president finds that due to any foreign entry related to any country, the US comes under the threat of terrorism, then the entry should be banned under the power of constitution(“Executive Order Protecting The Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States”).
The period will be accordingly decided by the US Congress and related laws. This law was imposed by the president for the period of the 90 days. However, Secretary of Homeland Security was given the permission, to have the cases waived one by one depending upon the clearance of the particular individual from that country. There is also the suspension of the USRAP for 120 days, on account of its being used by the terrorist.
Iran is nominated as the state that supports the terrorism since 1984. Iran supports the Hizballah, Hamas, and terrorist groups in Iraq. Iran has also been connected to hold up for al-Qa’ida and has allowed al-Qa’ida to convey finances and armed forces through Iran to Syria and South Asia(“Executive Order Protecting The Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States”). Even, Iran has no cooperation with the United States in counterterrorism pains. The other state nominated by the US president is the Libya. In Libya, there is the control of the armed militias instead of the state for the running of the operations of the country. There are lots of violent groups in the Libya(“Executive Order Protecting The Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States”). The country is not able to control the terrorism in its country although providing the assistance in the counter terrorist activities. This is certainly measured the maximum flaw of this country and got banned by the US. There was a suspension of the US embassy in Libya during the year 2014, due to the severe conditions. Somalia is considered as the heaven of the terrorists.
There are two terrorist groups Al-Shabaab, an al-Qa’ida, that have their operations in this country for several years(“Executive Order Protecting The Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States”). These have spread their operations in the neighboring countries also, making the situation more complicated(“Executive Order Protecting The Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States”). Even, this country is not acknowledged by many countries in the world, due to its banned borders. This country also cooperates with the US on terrorism grounds but has no control inside the country over the terrorist operations.
Sudan is supporting the terrorist activities since 1993, supporting the both Hizballah and Hamas(“Executive Order Protecting The Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States”). It was the safest place in the world for al-Qa’ida, for their training. The country has ended its support for the terrorists now and helping out the US, but still, it did not get the clearance from the international counterterrorism groups(“Executive Order Protecting The Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States”). Syria had been the sponsor of the terrorism since 1979. The country is facing this activity in the region, due to the military conflict in the country with the ISIS(“Executive Order Protecting The Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States”).
Syria also has the support for more terrorist groups, and allow the entry of these into eh Iraq. The US embassy has also abolished the function in the Syria since 2012, as it is no more a safe country for operations, with no support for the terrorism to the US. Incumbent government and the Houthi-led opposition have a conflict in the Yemen(“Executive Order Protecting The Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States”). There are hundreds of attacks due to different terrorist groups, in the country. It is the country that has the major share in the smuggling of the weapons used in the terrorist activities. This is the sponsor of the terrorist activities of the al-Qa’ida(“Executive Order Protecting The Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States”). The US embassy also stopped its operations in this country in 2015, on these grounds.
Iraq has the specific link with the terrorism, as there were many portions of the country that have been the greater zones of terrorism, for the terrorist activities, especially the northern and the central portion of the country are under the control of the ISIS group(“Executive Order Protecting The Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States”). Presently, this control has gone weakened due to the effective management by the government in controlling these activities. There is the different treatment of the US government with the Iraq due to its presence in the Iraq and its cooperation in the terrorist activities(“Executive Order Protecting The Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States”).
The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 perched Chinese immigration for ten years into the United States, with the decelerating Chinese, as barred for naturalization. This act was passed on May 6 and was signed by President Chester A. Arthur and directly targeted the Chinese workers, and affected the workers at the West Coast. There was the fear of waning wages and economic troubles on these Chinese workers, affecting in the context of The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. At that time Chinese population was very little in the US, consisting about 0.002 percent of the nation’s population. But still, this act was targeting that small population severally. This act was passed by the congress to suppress the worker’s demands having the racial purity, the result of the act. However, there was the relaxation to the nonworkers of Chinese to have the visit of the US, by taking the special permission from the Chinese government. It was, however, not the easy task, as It was not the easiest approach to get the approval by the nonworkers, because the act was defined by the terms of skilled and unskilled laborers and Chinese employed in mining. Thus, it was very difficult to have the clearance from all these terms and come under the umbrella of non-Chinese workers to have the entry into the United States.
The act was challenged by the Chinese worker, applied on their racial basis; their efforts were fruitless before the congress. There was the renewal of this act for more ten years and asked the Chinese workers not to enter the US territory eternally and if entered would be the illegal entry, for an unlimited period(“Dark Shadows Of Chinese Exclusion Act In Trump’S Muslim Ban”). When renewed for the period of next ten years, this act was known as Geary Act(“Our Documents – Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)”).The result of the legislation was excellent, and America was set free from the Chinese population within next few years. These were again got the rights of citizenship of America in 1943.This was the very first act that was passed to stop any nation entering into the America. Otherwise, America was considered to be the land that invites the different people, under the concept of a special dynasty.
The success of the America related to the Chinese exclusion gave it the encouragement to have more acts aimed at certain other nations, not to enter the Americans land. These aimed nations were the Middle Easterners; focusing on the Hindu and East Indians as well as the Japanese(“Our Documents – Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)”). The act was not only related to the new entrants but the Chinese workers who were already present in the United States for the working purposes got the severity of this act there. They faced the new requirement of entering into the united states, which if left the United States, once for any purpose, would require the certification for the re entering(“Dark Shadows Of Chinese Exclusion Act In Trump’S Muslim Ban”). Also, this act was made strict by the Congress by refusing to give them the citizenship by the residents there. Going further ahead in the discrimination practices, Congress used the and requirements about national origin.
In 1943, all the acts were canceled by the congress and gifted the rights of citizenship to the Chinese people. This was adopted until the legislation of another act, Immigration Act of 1965. This act was aimed to have the only 170,000 immigrants from outer the Western Hemisphere into the United States, having the maximum entry of people only 20000 from the single country. This was effectual till July 1, 1968, aimed to have the political safety. This act was the comprehensive legislation after the 1965 act, in the immigration policies. There was the flavor of the visa by the family living in the America, having the employment there, and increasing the diversity in the country. But all these can be availed about 7 %, maximum reach.
The Chinese Exclusion Act has an undecided peculiarity owing the first federal law to the United States to thwart associates of an explicit racial assemblage from inflowing the country. The law debarred the immigration of Chinese drudge and prohibited Chinese from flattering established citizens. The act was effective in the United States from 1889 to 1943, a period of the engagement of the China in the World War II. The act was sustained for so long for the reason of national security. At that time Chinese workers were thought to were working for other countries in the united states, contributing towards the wreaking of American security. They did not express this in open terms but they particular about this danger, and used it as the basis for having this act passed as the law, at that time(Pierce and messenger). They didn’t use those words, but they did talk about Chinese immigrants in particular about being “agents” of a foreign country and describing them as being the “advance guard” of an army.
America had been the history of the screening of the refugees based on their race. Japanese also faced the check for entering into the America during the 1907 and then by law in 1924. It was made clear that Japanese people who are eligible cannot enter the Japan, on any basis. The screening that the America do is allowed in the country legally can have the period of the two years or more. There is thus the small number of the refugees that get the entry into the United States, as compared to the whole world that has a large number of refugee’s entry. This checking of the refugees for the entrance was not only the focus of the foreign policy of the America but also the united nation has the check on the entry of these refugees in different countries, the greater number of these refugees is of the children, women and old people(“Chinese Exclusion Act – Facts & Summary – HISTORY.Com”). These people being weak, can be used by any nation or any terrorist group to have the sensitive information of the destined country. There was the removal of the South Asian since 1917, from these inclusions.
This list has the barred Asiatic zone that covers the Afghanistan to the Pacific areas. As the Japan had the strong power as compared to the other nations, treated as the non allowing nations into the United States, therefore, the US treatment related to the Japan was somewhat different and squashy. Thus, it was the part of the diplomatic policy of the America to have this different treatment due to its powers in the world. The same was the case with the India, being under the control of British at that time, and amerce was not in a position to have the conflict with the British.
There are echoes vested in the trump recent executive orders of the inclusions that were the part of the policies of the Americans. But now the focus of the America has shifted towards the banning the Muslim countries on the same basis, that were used to have the inclusions in the past(“What Is The ‘Muslim Ban?'”). The America has the opinion of having the importance of national security at the top, and it had the bad expenses of the foreign entrants into the country(“What Is The ‘Muslim Ban?'”). There are thousands of people in the American history that were foreign and were caught being the part of the terrorism-related crimes in the United States. These were both the immigrants and the refugees also(“What Is The ‘Muslim Ban?'”). The most famous example of this is the sentence of the two Iraqi nationals in the United States, in January 2013, the reason being involved in the terrorist activities. There was also a child refugee from the Somalia, that when grown up in the America was responsible for terrorist activities, and was caught and had the punishments of his crimes there(“What Is The ‘Muslim Ban?'”). He used the weapon of mass destruction at the crowded places in the America.
On the continuity of these inclusions, recently there is an executive order identified as “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States,” that is aimed at the Muslims immigration into the United States(“Chinese Exclusion Act – Facts & Summary – HISTORY.Com”). The details of this executive order include the suspension of refugees for 120 days, with a ban on the foreign nationals for 90 days(“What Is The ‘Muslim Ban?'”). All these are for the Muslim people that have the association with the special seven countries that are nominated as the terrorist supporting countries in the world(“What Is The ‘Muslim Ban?'”). Firstly, there was the confusion related to this law as it also captured the entry of the green card holders, but this is not true at all.
Democrats criticized this executive order in the United States(“Trump Travel Ban: Second US Judge Block New Executive Order – BBC News”). In the response of this, there was the statement from the trump clarifying the basis of this executive order. He made it clear that it was not specifically the muslin bag, but it was aimed to target those people who can be the danger of the national security of the America (“What Is The ‘Muslim Ban?'”). This was not promptly accepted in the America as well as in the whole world.
Works Cited
“Chinese Exclusion Act – Facts & Summary – HISTORY.Com.” HISTORY.com. N.p., 2017. Web. 9 Aug. 2017.
“Dark Shadows Of Chinese Exclusion Act In Trump’S Muslim Ban.” Atimes.com. N.p., 2017. Web. 10 Aug. 2017.
“Executive Order Protecting The Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States.” whitehouse.gov. N.p., 2017. Web. 9 Aug. 2017.
Hsu, Kevin. “Asian American Issues Monthly.” SAPAAC. N.p., 2017. Web. 9 Aug. 2017.
“Our Documents – Chinese Exclusion Act (1882).” Ourdocuments.gov. N.p., 2017. Web. 10 Aug. 2017.
pierce, sarah, and doris meissnger. Https://Pennstatelaw.Psu.Edu/Sites/Default/Files/Trump-EO-Refugees-Travelban-FINAL.Pdf. 2017. Print.
“Trump Travel Ban: Second US Judge Block New Executive Order – BBC News.” BBC News. N.p., 2017. Web. 10 Aug. 2017.
“What Is The ‘Muslim Ban?’.” Anti-Defamation League. N.p., 2017. Web. 9 Aug. 2017.
