Race and Immigration

The civil war abolishing slavery was won in 1865. Yet, race continued to be a factor in American society and legal system until the 1950s.  Blacks were never "equal" in the South until Brown vs. Board of Education was adjudicated in 1954. The history of Immigration law is replete with blatant discrimination against people of race, color and national origin. 

A series of acts were passed from 1882 to 1934 called as Asian Exclusion Act, aimed at excluding immigrants from China, Japan, India and Philippines.  It is actually quite funny how the court system tried to justify these exclusions.  They were of course based on nothing but color.  In Ozawa V United States (1922) the Supreme Court did not want to use the term "white" and exclude all other colors.  So they used the term "Caucasian".  However people from India are also of Caucasian descent. So Mr. Bhagat Singh Thind from India wanted to be granted Citizenship, the court was forced to use the term "white" and  exclude all other immigrants.  The court rationalized that unlike European "white" people, people from India cannot readily assimilate into the American society. 

I would love to say that was back then, and how far we have gone, but I simply cant. In 1952, the Mc Carran Walter Act abolished the Asian exclusion act, and started accepting Asians, although restricting them on an ethnic quota.  In 1965, the term "ethnic quota" was changed to "National Origin."  What that means is that if you are an  Asian born in UK you are Ok.   But if you were born in India or China, you have to wait longer than all other people.  And this despite the fact that people from India and China are generally highly educated. 

Asian Americans pay the highest taxes among all ethnic groups. They have the highest SAT scores.  Yet we have very few is any representation in all three branches of the Government. I thought our country was founded upon the principal of  "No taxation without representation."

Contact Houston Immigration Lawyer, or Houston Immigration Attorney Annie Banerjee, for more information.