by Lisa Emilie Fuhrmann
On September 17, 1787, after several months of debates and compromise at the Constitutional Convention, the new United States Constitution was agreed upon and signed in Pennsylvania’s State House, now known as the Independence Hall. While this did not mean that the Constitution was officially adopted, it certainly laid the foundation for a new form of government and the principles that the United States is known for today. Despite the originally proposed United States Constitution being controversial at the time due to its alleged vagueness and lack of protection against tyranny, by 1788, 9 out of the 13 necessary states had ratified the Constitution, leading to the official adoption of the document. Since then, there have been many adjustments such as the addition of the Bill of Rights as well as that of several amendments, including the 14th amendment which allows for birthright citizenship. However, as the Constitution has evolved and been shaped by immigration, it has also charged a new debate: Who gets to be an American in a country that has been shaped by immigration?
Alexander Hamilton: A Constitution Made by an Immigrant
The topic of immigration is not one that is new to the United States. In fact, even before the original Constitution had been drafted, immigrants were able to enter the country. One of those immigrants was Alexander Hamilton, a man born in poverty on the island of Nevis in the Caribbean, who arrived to New York in 1772 in hopes of furthering his education. At the time, nobody could have known that the same man would later become an instrumental part in not only constructing the Constitution, but also convincing states to ratify the document. As a lawyer with a growing interest in a central government, he was chosen as one of the three delegates to represent the State of New York at the Constitutional Convention. While he did not actively participate in a lot of the debates at the time due to his legal business, he was the only delegate from his State to sign the document. However, Hamilton was fully cognizant of the controversy surrounding the Constitution and its ratification as the document faced relentless criticism in the press of his home state. Despite this, Hamilton remained unwavering in his support for the document. As part of his efforts to secure the Constitution’s ratification, he along with James Madison and John Jay published a series of essays in late 1787, which would later be known as the Federalist Papers consisting of 85 essays, 51 of them written by Hamilton himself. It is thanks to these essays and efforts, shaping the public debate, that the Constitution was ultimately ratified, laying the foundation for the American government as we know it today.
We the People: First Definitions of an American
Although 9 out of 13 states had ratified the Constitution by mid-1788, it was not until May 1790 that Rhode Island, the 13th and final state, joined them in the ratification. In the same year, the first naturalization act was passed through Congress, paving a way for citizenship for the first time in U.S. history as the Constitution left the question of citizenship open. With that, any person who was considered to be free and white and had lived under U.S. jurisdiction for at least two years was able to become a naturalized citizen of the country. Additionally, children of naturalized citizens under the age of twenty-one were also considered to be citizens. However, this did not mean that immigration was without controversy and in 1798 the Aliens Enemies Act, an act allowing the government to detain and deport people who were not considered to be U.S. citizens during wartime, was introduced.
70 years later and after the Civil War, the 14th amendment was adopted in 1868 in an attempt to rectify the treatment of Black descendants of previously enslaved people who at the time were not considered to be U.S. citizens. With the introduction of the amendment, birthright citizenship was established and anyone born on American soil was able to consider themselves an American. Since then, there have been many discussions concerning the 14th Amendment and immigration as well as Supreme Court decisions on the basis of the amendment, such as determining that children and parents can have different citizenship.
The Infamous Ellis Island: Immigration Identity and US Economy
In 1892, Ellis Island first opened and became the first and largest federal immigrant procession station. Despite controversies surrounding immigration, the island only rejected about 2% of the immigrants seeking a new start in the country. As a result, Ellis Island welcomed around 12 million immigrants from its opening to its closure in 1954, and 100 million Americans can trace their ancestry back to someone who immigrated through Ellis Island. When immigrants first arrived on the island, they were herded and tagged, inspected and interrogated before they were allowed to enter the United States. However, this process did not aim to detain or reject immigrants. In fact, the goal of Ellis Island was to admit new laborers and citizens who would be able to contribute to the industrial economy. As such, immigration was established to be vital for the U.S. economy.
The Blame Game: It is the Immigrants’ Fault
Despite, Ellis Island aiming to process immigrants who would help boost the economy through their labor, by 1929, many Americans started to see immigrants as scapegoats and at fault for their misfortune. With the Great Depression leaving its mark on the country, many blamed Mexican communities on the Arizona, California and Texas borders for taking away job opportunities and public assistance resources, leading to the displacement of Mexican immigrants as well as Mexican-Americans. Earlier, such blame had already been placed on Chinese immigrants during an economic panic that occurred in the 1870s which had led to the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, preventing Chinese immigrants from becoming American citizens. Even today, immigrants continue to be forced into the role of the scapegoats, with more and more Americans in support of mass deportation and Trump blaming immigrants for not just the home affordability crisis, but also for what he believes to be “migrant crimes”.
Trump’s War on Immigration: Mass Deportation and Birthright Citizenship
With immigration having become such a controversial topic, it comes as no surprise that immigration is a topic often featured during presidential campaigns. Looking at the campaign of Trump, opposition to immigration was a crucial issue to him and his supporters. In 2016, Trump made it clear that he would want to build a border wall to Mexico in an attempt to decrease immigration numbers. Additionally, Trump in his first term had emphasized that he wanted to end DACA, an act introduced by former President Barack Obama protecting immigrants who were brought to the US as children from deportation. While Trump was not able to fund the border wall and former President Biden reversed many of Trump’s immigration policies, Trump’s attempts to crack down on immigration have not wavered in his second presidential term.
In fact, since Trump took office, mass deportations have increasingly been carried out through ICE agents. Often times, those arrests are targeting immigrants without criminal records and even international students with valid visas have been detained. Additionally, federal officers can be found wearing masks, not wearing their uniforms, and not displaying their badges, which has sparked even more controversy amongst those that heavily criticize mass deportations. On the other hand, those who encourage mass deportations have been found threatening people they believe to be immigrants with deportation and impersonating ICE agents. Such impersonations have become easier due to the deployment of plainclothes immigration agents, but also poses a public threat as people will no longer be able to distinguish between legitimate law enforcement officers and impersonators.
However, mass deportation is not the only bullet point on Trump’s list to decrease immigration. In addition to that, he also brought forth an executive order trying to end birthright citizenship, the 14th Amendment right that has helped define who gets to be an American. While the order has been considered unconstitutional by some judges, appeals have been drafted and the order was presented to the U.S. Supreme Court as an emergency case. So far, there has not been an official ruling yet on whether the executive order presented by Trump can go into effect or not. However, the order has forced the Supreme Court to reexamine and potentially reinterpret the 14th Amendment, which has been a part of the Constitution for many years and helped define who gets to be an American in a nation that has continuously been shaped by immigrants and immigration. As such, it is important that on this Constitution and Citizenship Day we not only celebrate the Constitution and current U.S. citizens, but also the immigrants who have helped shape this country from the beginning while acknowledging the struggles they continue to face and fighting against the current threats to the Constitution and the different paths to citizenship.
Lisa Emilie Fuhrmann studiert im 4. Semester den Bachelorstudiengang Anglistik/Amerikanistik in Kombination mit dem Ergänzungsfach Biowissenschaften an der Friedrich-Schiller-Universität in Jena. Sie ist zur Zeit als Praktikantin an der Akademie tätig. Der Blogbeitrag ist ein persönlicher Meinungsbeitrag.
