News Release of National Committee on Immigration
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> National * Committee * on * Immigration <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
News Release #9507
Friday, August 11, 1995
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The National Committee on Immigration is a coalition of Chinese Students,
Scholars & Professionals who work against the anti-immigration legislation
HR1915. For info or want to contribute please send to hr1915@math.luc.edu
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1. Wake up, the honeymoon is over!......................................52
2. UB Coordination Committee on Immigration Founded.....................76
3. Coordinating Committee in Chicago Established........................34
4. Letter from UF International Student Council about lobbying
strategy.............................................................48
5. Chronology: Restrictions on Immigration and Naturalization (I).......90
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1. Wake up, the honeymoon is over!......................................52
By Luo Ning
Although many Chinese student and professional (CSP)
organizations and individuals have got involved in the effort
to counter the current anti-immigration tide in the US, the
majority of the CSP community has not been put on alert about
the seriousness of this crisis. It is not because they don't
believe that "things could not become THAT bad", it is rather
because most CSP from mainland China could not IMAGINE HOW BAD
IT COULD BECOME.
Our generation of CSP come to the US after 1978.
In terms of the general attitude of American public toward
Chinese people, this 17 years is the best period since Chinese
started to immigration to the US in mid-19th century.
From the brief chronology of the US immigration policy
attached in the following we can see that the Asian Pacific
Islanders (API) have been excluded or discriminated against
LEGALLY in immigration and work for the MOST PART of the last
100 years. Chinese, the largest ethnic group among API, was
the first fell under the attack (Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882).
The reason for the API to be singled out consistently is because
this group is racially distinct.
Many of us might have thought that it is hard enough
to get a waiver for J-1's two-year home country residence
requirement, or to get a H-1 or labor certificate. Many also
feel the economy is now much less generous toward the people
with advanced education than 10 years ago. However, if you
compare our situation with what our forerunners had to face,
we are still in the paradise. It may be hard to find a job
which can fit your education or desire now, but in the most
time of the last 100 years, a Chinese could not even find
ANY decent labor job in this "land of opportunity".
The problem is that this honeymoon is over. We must
wake up from our hypnotized sweetened version of "American
Dream", and face up the reality.
It is imperative for us to educate ourselves, to learn
about the past history, and to understand working of the forces
brought these changes.
More importantly, we must stand up and speak for
ourselves. We can no longer "hind behind the crowd", for
the whole crowd is under attack now.
Luo Ning
August 5, 1995
New York
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2. UB Coordination Committee on Immigration Founded......................76
From now on we have a coordination committee on immigration in UB to
coordinate the action against the anti-immagration wave. The committee
currently have ten people, and their names and responsibilities are as
follows: Mr. XIANG Shunan (Vice President of CSSC): general coordinator.
Ms. CHANG Lee-Ching, Mr. LING Chen, and CSSC Council member Mr. MEI
Yousong: reach-out; to study the possibilities and organize activities
in Buffalo area outside of UB to win support from the mainstream
society. Mr. CHEN Xi, regional-coordinator to nationwide organizations: to
function as a channel between the local committee and national
organizations. Mr. LIN Guoqing: promoter to UB organizations; to win support
in UB from students and administratives. Mr. Song, Jieyuan: information
information center; to establish a home page to store all the
about our activities for public access. Mr. Hu Hai, WU Reggie (Yingli),
and ZHANG Dongbin: communications; to collect and process information
from within and outside of UB and report to the local society.
In the meeting we discussed about various actions towards
Bill S269 and HR 1915 as well as histories such as the 1882 Chinese
Exclusion Act. The following are some of the points raised and discussed.
1. What's the significance to fight against the anti-immigration wave?
The core content of the anti-immigration wave is, to blame immigrants as
the scapegoat of the deterioration of the American environment including
the economic recession, which is unfair. The emergence of the wave had
been signaled when Califonia passed the Bill 187 last year to deprive
the rights including education and medicare from even legal immigrants . If
we do not fight, the bills will definitely pass, and the anti-immigrant
wave will become higher and higher, and eventually all of us--no matter non-
immigrants, immigrants, or even naturalized citizens--will be hit by the
wave.
2. Should we fight against the whole bills or just part of the bill?
The final agreement reached was, we should fight against the
unreasonableparts of the bills, such as the Title V of the bill HR1915,
but not the whole bills.
3. Should we manage to win support from the mainstream society with
vigorous actions like parade or driving for general signature? Should we
gather money to do advertisement in the media?
There were two aspects in these actions. One was, we could raise the
issue and so that the society would be aware of the issue and some people
would jump in to support us; but the concern was, some anti-immigration people
would be irritated and jump out to reach the congressmen to bring
negative effect on the campaign. The final conclusion was, the issue had to be
studied, and if decided to carried out, cautious measures had to be
taken.
4. Strategically, how should we act?
This is an issue of the American Society, and what the politicians
concern most is the voice from their voters. So, the voice from we Chinese alone
is not loud enough. We should first educate ourselves, then act as nuclii
to educate our friends, then let our friends to act as nuclii to educate
their friends,... The circle should be dynamically expanding. In one pathway,
in UB, the work should be done from Chinese students/scholars society to
other international student societies to ISSS, and from students to
departmental faculty to school administratives; outside UB, we should
contact our landlords, our neighbors, our American friends and other
friends. It is feasible. In general, more educated people are more easy
to see the point that restricting high-technique immigrants will be greatly
harmful to the American society. Some professors have been mobilized to
write to the congress.
5. Tactically, how should we act?
We may call, fax, snail mail, and e-mail the congressmen. The directory
of the congress is been prepared and will soon be released to the local
net. There is a WWW home page containing the phone/fax/emails of
congressmen of the both House and Senate, http://www/fairus.org. When
we convey our concern, the message should be clear, such as I am against
Title V of the bill HR1915. Personal information such as full name, home
address, phone numbers should be furnished. Proper title, if it would
help, should also be furnished.
UB Coordination Committee on Immigration
(State University of New York at Buffalo)
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3. Activities in Chicago/Illinois.......................................34
1: On Aug 7, 1995, Chicago-CSS established a temp. Coordinating
committee on Immigration based on the Union of Chicagoland CSS;
Univ. of Chicago, Northwestern Univ., Univ. of Illinois at Chicago,
Illinois Inst. of Technology are the members. General Coordinators
are: John Lin, Debbie Wang, Elaine Jin and Qi Bin. They will ask
their fellow CSS to send letters to IL politicians.
2: 5-7 Chinese Newspapers at Chicago/100,000 Chinese population will
publish an OPEN Letter to IL congressmen/women/senators, will awake Chinese
here. The letter was co-supported by 5 CSS org. and 2 Chinese Professional
Org.
Next steps:
1, work with other minorities at Chicago/IL in Aug 24, 1995 Townhall
meeting with Senator Carol Mosylin;
2, Write English articles to Chicago Tribune/Sun Times;
3, Consider contacting key politicians/or rally in the CITY;
4, Make more CSS fax/write/call politicians/consider signature movement;
My feeling is: it is not TOO easy to INITIATE and GAIN support from all
groups! But keep working is better than nothing. Also, have more close-CSS
supporters to help you, the LEADER is critical, since many CSS don't know how
to act and are very busy. The LEADER should show his or her courage and
intelligence. Anyway, pressure is building progressively in Chicago/IL
and this will make SOME difference!
>From John Jianhong Lin (U32898@UICVM.BitNet)
Illinois Coordinator, National Committee on Immigration
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4. Letter from UF International Student Council about lobbying strategy....48
Mr. Wuhong Li
President, UFCSS
University of Florida.
Dear Wuhong,
Thank you for forwarding the email from from Mr. Haipei Xue
( 28-JUL-1995 05:12 ). Most of his suggestions are excellent and he
deserves our appreciation. However, point number 3, with regards to
mounting a public relations campaign, requires careful thought.
Better results may be obtained if lobbying is done QUIETLY and
DISCREETELY without making a lot of media circus.
First: why is Immigration an issue right now? Because there is a
widespread anti-immigrant sentiment among the general US population.
It is important to realize that the public sentiment is AGAINST
foreigners. We cannot change this. We should try to make our case to the
Senators and Congressman in private. The same goes for University officals.
They may sincerely support us in their hearts and minds, but they
will be very reluctant to say anything in public.
Second: there is a tremendous feeling against affirmative action
rigth now. If we make a big fuss in public, we will sound like many
other groups. The common person will not realize the distinction. They will
not even want to hear our case.
Third: It is important to realize that events are being driven
by irrational fears of the general population. No amount of logic
or information will convince them to change their minds. It is in the
national interest of the US to get the best minds in the world to work
for them. Why would any American want to change/oppose this policy ?
Fourth: Our own experience with the media has not always been
positive. Sometimes they oversimplify/distort our positions. So there
is no guarantee that in going public, the media will cover our case
sympathetically. The August 9, 1993 issue of Newsweek did a cover story
on immigration: they suggested a cutback.
To summarize: It may be better to do everything that Mr. Haipei
Xue suggests--email congressman, talk to University officials, make our case
to people in authority--but do it quietly.
Sincerely,
Ejaz Ahmad
International Student Council
University of Florida.
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5. Chronology: Restrictions on Immigration and Naturalization (I).......90
So strongly did Americans believe in the "asylum principle" that
immigration remained virtually unrestricted for our first century
of national existence. Naturalization-in particular, the residency
requirement for foreigners seeking citizenship-proved more
contentious, as nativists sought to exclude newcomers from
the political process. A chronological account shows the ebb and
flow of anti-immigrant sentiment.
CHRONOLOGY
TOTAL U.S. # OF NEW % OF U.S.
DECADE POPULATION IMMIGRANTS POPULATION
______ __________ __________ __________
1790s 7.2 mil N/A N/A
1790 - Naturalization is authorized for "free white persons" who
have resided in the United States for at least two years and swear
loyalty to the U.S. Constitution. The racial requirement would
remain on the federal books until 1952, although naturalization was
opened to certain Asian nationalities in the 1940s.
1798 - The Alien and Sedition Acts authorize the President to
deport any foreigner deemed to be dangerous and make it a crime to
speak, write, or publish anything "of a false, scandalous and
malicious nature" about the President or Congress. An amended
Naturalization Act imposes a 14-year residency requirement for
prospective citizens; in 1802, Congress would reduce the waiting
period to five years, a provision that remains in effect today.
TOTAL U.S. # OF NEW % OF U.S.
DECADE POPULATION IMMIGRANTS POPULATION
______ __________ __________ __________
1880s 62.9 mil 5.2 mil 8.3%
1882 - The Chinese Exclusion Act suspends immigration by Chinese
laborers for ten years; the measure would be extended and tightened
in 1892 and a permanent ban enacted in 1902. This marks the first
time the United States has restricted immigration on the basis of
race or national origin.
TOTAL U.S. # OF NEW % OF U.S.
DECADE POPULATION IMMIGRANTS POPULATION
______ __________ __________ __________
1890s 75.9 mil 3.7 mil 4.9%
1891 - To the list of undesirables ineligible for immigration,
Congress adds polygamists, "persons suffering from a loathsome or
a dangerous contagious diseases," and those convicted of "a
misdemeanor involving moral turpitude."
TOTAL U.S. # OF NEW % OF U.S.
DECADE POPULATION IMMIGRANTS POPULATION
______ __________ __________ __________
1900s 91.9 mil 8.8 mil 9.6%
1906 - The first language requirement is adopted for
naturalization: ability to speak and understand English.
1907-8 - Under a so-called "Gentlemen's Agreement," the United
States promises not to ban Japanese immigration in exchange for
Japan's pledge not to issue passports to Japanese labors for travel
to the continental United States (although they remain welcome to
become agricultural workers in Hawaii). By a separate executive
order, President Theodore Roosevelt prohibits secondary migration
by Japanese from Hawaii to the mainland.
TOTAL U.S. # OF NEW % OF U.S.
DECADE POPULATION IMMIGRANTS POPULATION
______ __________ __________ __________
1910s 105.7 mil 5.7 mil 5.4%
1917 - Over President Wilson's veto, Congress enacts a literacy
requirement for all new immigrants: ability to read 40 words in
some language. Most significant in limiting the flow of newcomers,
it designates Asia as a "barred zone" (excepting Japan and the
Philippines) from which immigration will be prohibited.
TOTAL U.S. # OF NEW % OF U.S.
DECADE POPULATION IMMIGRANTS POPULATION
______ __________ __________ __________
1920s 122.7 mil 4.1 mil 3.3%
(prepared by National Immigration Forum, to be continued)
Posted by Luo Ning, August 5, 1995
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Editor of this issue: Hu Houhong
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Martin Niemoller, a German clergyman at the end of WWII had this to say:
In Germany, they came first for the Communists and I didn't speak up because
I wasn't a Communist; then they came for the Jews and I didn't speak up
because I wasn't a Jew; then they came for the Trade-Unionists and I didn't
speak up because I wasn't a Trade-Unionist; then they came for the Catholics
and I didn't speak up because I am a Protestant; then they came for me, and
by that time no-one was left to speak up.
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