The nativist movement was established as a social and political movement during the early 1830s due to the increase in immigration in the United States. The movement aimed to restrict immigration into the country as a strategy of protecting the interests of the natives compared to those of immigrants. The movement included the anti-Asian movements, the Immigration Restriction League of the 1890s, and American Party of the 1850s. The formation of the movement led to the Gentlemen’s Agreement of 1907 and the implementation of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. Nativists justify their fear of immigrants through environmental, cultural, and economic reasons.
The nativist movement argued that immigrants led to an increase in the consumption of scarce resources and overpopulation in the native country. Consequently, proponents of the nativist movement argue that immigration leads to cultural degradation and damage to a country’s patriotism. Furthermore, immigration leads to increased government expenditure, unemployment, and affect social welfare systems. Thus, the nativist movement was established to ensure that immigration was restricted in several countries. During early 1830s, nativist movement started gaining momentum in the Northeast as a response to increasing immigration of Irish Catholics. However, in 1854, nativist went public and formed the American Party which advocated for long waiting period between migration and neutralization and was hostile to Irish Catholic immigrants.
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During the late 19 th century, the massive wave of immigration in the United States led to urbanization and modernization of the country. After the 1870s, most countries in the West hemisphere experienced increased immigration from eastern and southern Europe. Nativist movements targeted these immigrants. One of the well-established movements was the Know-Nothings, which was formed in the 1840s by anti-Irish and anti-Catholic members of the working class. During the 1856 presidential election, American Party candidate, former President Fillmore, ran with the party’s ticket.
In the following years, several small-scale riots took place in most American cities, between nativists and Catholics. Chinese immigrants started moving into America between 1850 and 1860. During this period, more than 40,000 Chinese nationals traveled the Pacific in search of jobs in the railroads and mining industry. In the late 1880s, the population of Chinese immigrants had vastly dispersed through the Coast and Western states. Nativists perceived the Chinese as an unassimilable group whose habits and customs were a social menace. The inability of the Chinese immigrants to assimilate was associated with their appearance and their tendency to preserve their language and cultural practices.
Chinese immigrants steered competition in the job market with whites. Thus, the nativist movement fueled reprisal against Chinese immigrants in the West. After the 1870s, nativist organized themselves into small political groups that rebelled against the Chinese immigrants. Some of these movements demanded that the United States government limit the rights of Chinese immigrants in the country and cut off their immigration. During this era, legislators implemented several laws that restricted the rights of Chinese immigrants and stopped the immigration of Chinese into the country. One of the most noticeable rules was the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 which burred the immigration of Chinese laborers for ten years.
Consequently, the Scott Act, which was implemented in 1887, prohibited the return of Chinese immigrants that left the country. The Geary Act of 1892 required Chinese immigrants to acquire a certificate of eligibility and denied bail for Chinese criminals. The nativist movements that were anti-Chinese pushed for the mobilization of the country against Filipinos, Koreans, and Japanese immigrants as well. Similar to the Chinese, these immigrants were classified as inherently different by nativists. In 1905, the Japanese and Korean Exclusion League was formed by nativists in response to the increasing population of Korean and Japanese immigrants in the country. In 1924, Japanese immigrants were barred from migrating to the United States after consecutive years of discrimination and restrictions.
During the late 19 th and early 20 th century, the nativist movements that pushed for the exclusion of Asian immigrants started revolting against European immigrants. Nativists accused Russians of receiving stolen goods whereas Greeks and Italians were accused of kidnapping and abduction. The perception of the nativists fueled xenophobia and stereotyping of European immigrants. These immigrants were classified as “unsavory-looking figures,” who were viewed as a threat to the United States. Additionally, immigrants were accused of infecting the natives with diseases from their home countries. The Immigration Act of 1875 and 1882 were implemented with a focus on controlling immigrant populations with diseases and mental illnesses.
In 1909, Congress formed the Dillingham Commission, which was tasked to assess the effect that immigrants had on the nation. After the Dillingham Commission Report, the 1917 Immigration Act established head tax and literacy requirements on all migrants entering the United States. Failure to achieve the required goals through these restrictions led to the rise of the Quota System. On June 3, 1921, the Emergency Quota Act was implemented. The Johnson-Reed Act further supported the system by introducing stringent restrictions against immigrants in 1924. The ensuing years were characterized by nativist's movement opposition to immigrants with Mexican origin. After 1929, the United States experienced a decline in the number of immigrants. Tea Party Movement, one of the contemporary nativist movement advocated for change in immigration policies under Former President Obama’s tenure. In 2016, Donald Trump was also accused of supporting and introducing nativist themes into his government. He restricted the immigration of Muslim migrants from six Islamic states.
