On May 24 that year, President Calvin Coolidge signed the Immigration Act of 1924, "a historical benchmark, reflecting age-old tensions between civic inclusion and racial exclusivity in American life," Miami University history professor Matthew Smith writes in The Conversation.
The law banned individuals from most of Asia and placed a quota amount on immigration from European countries, cutting the incoming number of immigrants significantly. It remained in effect for decades.
Today we’re at risk of repeating some of the same mistakes, Zeke Hernandez, an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s business school, writes in The Hill.
"[A]lmost nobody talks about ... the self-harm the restrictions caused to America: significant job losses, obliterating innovation by American scientists and companies, lowering investment across our communities and giving rise to the border problems we still experience to this day," he writes. " ... Unlike in the past, we now have solid evidence that immigrants are net positive contributors to everything that makes for a prosperous society."
Four days after Coolidge signed the 1924 act into law, Congress created the Border Patrol as part of a labor appropriations bill. The agency has come a long way since, Sarah Matusek and Caitlin Babcock write in The Christian Science Monitor.
The Border Patrol is a notable part of the community in El Paso, Texas, as Adam Powell of the El Paso Times captures in words and photographs. Having been to the El Paso-Juárez border last week, I have a new appreciation for the dynamics on the ground there.
Big thanks to Jillian Clark, Darika Verdugo, Ally Villarreal and Clara Villatoro for their work on the Daily while I was away, and welcome to today's edition. I’m Dan Gordon, the Forum’s strategic communications VP. If you have a story to share from your own community, please send it to me at [email protected].
TOP SOLUTION — Immigration could be the No. 1 solution for Nebraska’s workforce challenges, reports Cindy Gonzalez of the Nebraska Examiner. That’s according to three reports commissioned by the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry. "There are headwinds coming," Chamber President Bryan Slone said of the state’s labor shortage. "We are just at the front end of it." Among solutions that would help and are ripe for action, Slone said, are an increase in temporary visas and a solution for Dreamers.
STATE LAWS — States have some discretion to pass immigration-related laws, but "the U.S. Supreme Court has consistently upheld the federal government's jurisdiction over immigration law, Yesenia Jimenez and Jordan Gerard of The Oklahoman report. Last week the U.S Department of Justice (DoJ) sued Oklahoma over its new immigration law, they note. Russell Contreras of Axios has more on the new DOJ lawsuits over Oklahoma’s and Iowa’s recently
signed laws.
ARCHITECT — As an architect who designs ports of entry at the border, Eddie Jones writes in the Arizona Republic about the conditions and relationships he has witnessed at the border. They are "in no way a security crisis," he writes. " ... Let us acknowledge that this is a crisis of human suffering and is due to the inaction of our elected officials."
EXECUTIVE ACTION? — The Biden administration is considering announcing immigration-related actions as early as next week, report Laura Barrón-López, Shrai Popat and Ian Couzens of PBS NewsHour. One possibility: Temporary border closures via a section of immigration law known as 212(f) under certain circumstances. The reporters note that action may reflect the language of the Senate’s
bipartisan-negotiated border bill and analyzes potential impacts on border crossings and asylum claims.
