Northern and southern tensions weren't the only ones in the United States in the first half of the 19th century. There was also tension between those who had settled in America for generations, and those who immigrated to America from non-English speaking nations, and from anti-English nations like Ireland. There had been relatively little ( Read more... )

Barack Obama won the 2008 Presidential Election decisively, winning almost 53% of the popular vote and 365 of the 538 electoral votes. The victory was the result in part of Obama's personal charisma, but more so the result of dissatisfaction with incumbent government's handling of the economy (which led to the sub-prime mortgage crisis and its ( Read more... )

2020 has been a challenging year for all of us. It has been a year that has called for tolerance, understanding and kindness as we see our fellow citizens struggle to meet the challenges that come with a pandemic, challenges that can be physical, mental, economic or spiritual. I hope you have found some sort of interesting diversion to help you ( Read more... )

Loosely, the theme running through this month's posts has been about how Presidents have addressed the issue of welcoming (or in some cases not welcoming) persons from other parts of the world who have tried to come to the United States because of political strife or other unsafe conditions in their country. Sometimes they have left because of ( Read more... )

The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (also known as the Hart-Cellar Act) was a piece of legislation passed during the Johnson administration changed the way immigration quotas were set. It ended the National Origins Formula that had been in place since 1921, abolishing the quota system based on national origins that had been the existing ( Read more... )

When George Washington first took the oath of office as President, the United States was very much a nation of immigrants. The first successful English colony was settled in 1607 at Jamestown, Virginia and when tobacco was found to be a profitable cash crop, many plantations were established along the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia and Maryland. One ( Read more... )

Executive Order 13769 was officially entitled "Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States". It was signed by President Donald J. Trump on January 27, 2017, and it placed limits on travel to the United States by non-residents from certain countries, and by all refugees. The order limited the number of refugees that can ( Read more... )

President Barack Obama was a professed supporter of comprehensive immigration reform. One of the thing he pushed for was a pathway to citizenship for many immigrants illegally residing in the United States. In spite of these intentions on the part of the President however, Congress did not pass a comprehensive immigration bill during Obama's two ( Read more... )

In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, one of the immigration measures implemented in response by the administration of President George W. Bush was the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (or NSEERS). This was a system for registering certain non-citizens within the United States. It began in September of 2002 ( Read more... )

When Thomas Jefferson became President in 1801, there was concern on the part of some Federalists about whether Jefferson would adopt pro-French policies and concern on the part of Democratic-Republicans that the Federalist would obstruct Jefferson's ability to govern. Jefferson surprised many by following Washington's warning against "foreign ( Read more... )