Knowledge Bank

The aim of my thesis is to argue that the American legal system and immigration policy served as the principal burden for those who attempted to enter the United States during the twentieth century. Furthermore, this thesis argues that Southern and Eastern Europeans did not successfully oppose immigration restriction during 1920s because of the overwhelming nativist sentiment against these groups. On the other hand, I argue that the period of the 1950s and 1960s offered Italians and other ethnicities a new era of political activism because the sweeping social changes brought about by the Civil Rights Movement and Cold War liberalism allowed these groups to achieve success in opposing discriminatory immigration laws. Taking advantage of these factors, I argue that the American Committee on Italian Migration centralized Italian political and social groups as well as Catholic and labor organizations to become a prominent force for the Italian community in ending national origin quotas and aiding newly arriving immigrants. Strategically, working for the end of national origin quotas allowed the Italian community to become politically active and allowed the admittance of more Italian immigrants who sought entrance to the country. On a symbolic level, engagement in these causes demonstrated that Italians were desirable immigrants and productive citizens. Hence, the end of national origin quotas signified the legal transformation of the Italian racial status from undesirable to desirable and non-white to white.