Donald Trump et l'immigration

As American history has unfolded, the « American Dream » has inspired people from every continent to leave behind their families, homelands and often even their own history in order to build something new in America.  As early as 1790, with the revolutionary « pact »,^[1] the nation of the United States became a new land of immigration. Multiple waves of immigrants came from all over the world, sometimes forced (slavery), but also fleeing from misery and especially for the gold rush. American immigration was described as a « Nation of Nations » by President John Fitzgerald Kennedy in his inauguration speech on 20 January 1961.^[2] The motto of the Great Seal of the United States, which appears in gold letters on the ceiling of the Capitol, is thus E Pluribus Unum, i.e. « Out of Many, One ».^[3] Immigration refers to the entry into a country of foreigners who come to settle there.  The word immigration comes from the Latin « in-migrare » which means « to enter a place ». In absolute numbers, the United States is the world's largest receiving country. Yet US immigration policy has also been a controversial topic in the history of American politics. The best known of these is the attack on the World Trade Center. The terrorist attack of 11 September 2001 (9/11) was a turning point in the immigration debate, shifting it from an almost exclusive focus on economic and social effects to a concern for national security and protection of the homeland against a possible future terrorist attack. The focus was further emphasized with the election of Donald Trump, a businessman and to date known to have been elected the 45th President of the United States in 2016 against all odds. On February 15, 2019, he declared a state of national emergency on the southern border of the United States, granting himself exceptional powers under the National Emergencies Act to requisition millions of dollars in federal funds and mobilize the army to build a wall along the border with Mexico. According to President Trump, the situation on the southern border presents a security and humanitarian crisis. This is the first time since the attacks of 11 September 2001 that an emergency measure has authorised military action in the United States. That is why, on the immigration issue, President Trump's perseverance in implementing his programme is remarkable. However, in democracies, it is not uncommon for voters to see an elected president who has strayed from his election promises.  Yet President Trump seems determined to implement what he announced. With that in mind, one might ask, how does Donald Trump's newly established immigration policy fit into the United States ? There are many reasons: they are not only related to the specific historical context of immigration, but also to the twists and turns of American immigration policy.

1. The precise historical context of immigration

1. Explosive issue, millions of immigrants in the USA :

From the day after independence, the United States was more welcoming to immigrants than most European societies.This was no accident of history, but the result of a political project: this emerging nation of British North American colonies intentionally approved this new immigration. It was not completed until the middle of the 19th century, when the country reached its present borders.  Immigrants and their American descendants forget that the Native Americans are the true people of America. The arrival of the American immigrant is complex, he is privileged compared to the Blacks and Indians who are turned away to make room for him.  President Jackson's Indian Removal Act in 1830 inaugurated the internal deportation of the « Redskins ». Moreover, the new immigrant also had to face the snobbery of the older ones and their descendants (in 1897 the Mayflower society was founded by descendants of the 102 settlers who had disembarked from the Mayflower in 1620) and a distinction was created, the « Whites » and within them the Anglo-Saxons. Since that, immigrants participate not only in the construction of a territory that they populate and colonise but also in the elaboration of an American identity. In the beginning, immigration to the United States of America was overwhelmingly Irish. Ireland in the 19th century was fleeing epidemics.Catholics and Celts, they rebalanced the WASP (White Anglo Saxon Protestant) base. The second migratory community is made up of Germans fleeing the misery of Europe. They ranged from doctors, lawyers, pastors and teachers to former prisoners of war and refugees from the GDR from the 1950s onwards. Immigration aroused hostile reactions in the name of nativism as soon as it became widespread in the 1840s and no longer systematically brought in WASPs.  The nativists militated with the Know-nothing movement, which in 1856 became the third largest political force in the country under the name of the Native American Party. The Know-nothing movement was essentially anti-Catholic. As a result, they targeted the Irish and the Germans. Many newcomers came to an America that was « the best hope in the world. »^[4] , « Europe is beginning to overflow into America. »^[5] Chinese workers also arrive to work on the major railway sites. But in 1882, Chinese immigration was prohibited by the Chinese Exclusion Act, which was the first infringement of the freedom of entry to the United States. The opening of Ellis Island off the port of New York subsequently took place in 1892 after that. It became the gateway to the United States and an immigration centre. This affirms the willingness of the American authorities to choose their immigrants according to economic rather than ethnic criteria. From 1921 to 1945, immigration curiously became a foreign policy issue when the First World War broke out. There is a tension around immigration with the Johnson-Reed laws. The United States remained attractive to anyone wanting to flee totalitarian regimes such as the Third Reich in Germany. However, Roosevelt would allow few visas for these refugees. For example, in the summer of 1939, the 900 or so passengers on the liner Saint Louis from Germany, German Jews, most of them women and children, were turned away by the American authorities..^[6]   

1. Legal immigration perspective

The melting-pot and assimilation of different immigrants from all over the world contributed to the settlement of the United States with the Statue of Liberty becoming its symbol. After the melting pot came the expression « salad bowl ». This term highlights the fact that each origin keeps its own specificities and brings something different. Immigrants embrace American culture while keeping their own. They see themselves as a Mexican American, an Irish American... It was known as hyphenated American. With the final location of the borders, the government has made a lot of legislation to legally regulate immigration. Namely, it authorises who can and cannot enter in the form of laws.  The first three immigration laws dealt with naturalisation, with conditions required to obtain it and regulated the presence of foreigners on American soil with the Aliens Act of 1798. Since then, many immigration laws have been passed. These laws reflect the historical context, problems, hopes and fears of their time. Since 1891, the Immigration and Naturalisation Service has been responsible for implementing and enforcing these measures. The primary source of U.S. immigration regulations is found in the U.S. Constitution. Another source comes from Congress.  Most of the laws talking about immigration are in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. Also contained in the United States Code (a collection of all the laws of the United States), it deals with « Nationality and Aliens » issues. The Act has been amended several times over time, but it still represents the core body of immigration law. In order to understand recent migration flows and the debates they generate, it is necessary to go back to the Act of 1965, since it established the current regime.^[7] It was the end of immigration quotas with the Voting Rights Act. There is indeed a will in American society to apply Civil Rights to all areas of public policy, including immigration. The 1965 Act in fact opens up the United States to mass non-European immigration. It was necessary to strengthen the European presence in the United States by introducing the principle of family reunification. However, it was Hispanics and Asians who would very quickly benefit from family reunification. This law was undisputed until the end of the 1990s. Also under the Obama administration, in 2012, a DACA programme was introduced. It enables young illegal immigrants under 16 years of age, the « dreamers »^[8] to obtain a residence permit and thus avoid permanent expulsion from the United States.  Immigration is also seen as an economic and social tool.  Non-immigrant visas (students, diplomats, investors, tourists...), H-1B visas for highly skilled professionals with university degrees are provided. Under the Trump Administration, the President has an atypical attitude towards « well-integrated illegal immigrants who pay their taxes.»^[9] He softens his immigration policy by giving « these rapists and thieves »^[10] the opportunity to stay on American soil, without granting them citizenship.  He shows that he is compassionate in this way and appeals to a section of the Hispanic electorate. Donald Trump supported a reform of the legal immigration system in the United States. The bill RAISE^[11] concocted by Republican Senators Tom Cotton and David Perdue, would give priority to English speakers and cap the number of refugees granted permission to reside in the United States at 50,000 per year. The law is intended to drastically reduce the number of low-skilled immigrants and to base the granting of residency permits on merit. While the bill is unlikely to be passed by Congress, it does provide the White House with an opportunity to show supporters of the billionaire that he is trying to deliver on his key campaign promises.

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