[brien]

Quote by: rmnunez brien, you need to learn a bit more of the subject, immigration was never illegal prior to the mid fifties, regardless of how you got there. During the Cold War illegal immigration was encouraged when from Soviet satellites. Even nowadays, if a Cuban illicitly sets off on a raft for Florida and manages to get ashore, eligibility for citizenship results automatically.

Hmmmmm. First you state that "illegal immigration wasn't illegal prior to the mid fifties" but then you go on to say that " During the Cold War illegal immigration was encouraged when from Soviet satellites." So, in one sentence you say illegal immigration wasn't illegal and in the very next sentence you say illegal immigration was legal. Sounds to me like you are the one who is a bit confused but I understand what you are trying to write here.

The truth of the matter is there has always been some type of law regarding citizenship in the US since the Naturalization Act of 1790

History of Migration and Immigration Laws in the United States

"The Naturalization Act of 1790 passed by Congress employed explicitly racial criteria limiting citizenship to ëfree white personsí; after this act was successfully challenged on behalf of blacks after the Civil War, ëAsian immigrants became the most significant ëotherí in terms of citizenship eligibilityí (Lesser, 85)" (Wong 5).

We can view this problem of illegal immigration either in its entirety, or in the components. One component being the act of immigration, legal or illegal. Another component being eventual citizenship that is the end result of immigration. I don't think one can seperate the two with regard to the proposals being offered in DC today.

Now to the Cold war. The Cold War began when Germany was divided into two countries during the settlement of WWII in 1945, not in the mid fifties.

History of Russia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Cold War emerged out of a conflict between Stalin and U.S. President Harry Truman over the future of Eastern Europe during the Potsdam Conference in the summer of 1945. Russia had suffered three devastating Western onslaughts in the previous 150 years during the Napoleonic Wars, the First World War, and the Second World War, and Stalin's goal was to establish a buffer zone of states between Germany and the Soviet Union. Truman charged that Stalin had betrayed the Yalta agreement. With Eastern Europe under Red Army occupation, Stalin was also biding his time, as his own atomic bomb project was steadily and secretly progressing.

It was only in 1952 that the US began to pass these laws:

History of Migration and Immigration Laws in the United States

The McCarran-Walter Act establishes the basic laws of U.S. citizenship and immigration. This act, also known as the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, has undergone several changes since its adoption. Originally, the law admitted only a certain number of immigrants of each nationality. But a law passed by Congress in 1965 gave preference to immigrants with skills needed in the United States and to close relatives of U.S. citizens. A 1990 law continued these preferences. Aliens must be admitted as legal immigrants to get U.S. citizenship. People who flee to the United States after being officially certified as refugees may receive immigrant status" (World Book Encyclopedia)Naturalization Act (1790)

So in one respect you are correct that specfic "immigration laws" were enacted in 1952, but in the other aspect of citizenship and naturalization of immigrants, you are incorrect as evidenced by the Naturalization Act of 1790. This business of picking and choosing aspects of the issue of immigration into the US certainly favors your point of view, but it does nothing to understand the entire problem of immigration as we see it today. Perhaps you also need to learn a bit more on the subject as well. :)