Women Immigrants: Struggling to Obtain American Citizenship Status - Essay Sample

Introduction

The Quality of a Citizens is an outstanding and astute study that shows the history of the women immigrants and their quest to become American citizens. Women were scrutinized more at the border compared to men. They were seen as not to contribute a lot in nation-building as such systematic structures were put in place to curtail their entry into the country. Women were to follow the culture of domesticity and were judged by their moral values. The immigration authorities could put women into different categories, which determined if one could enter the country or not. The author has highlighted how the laws of immigration and naturalization were hinged on the ideals of perfect womanhood. She has covered a wide area from the period of 1870 to 1965, which is good as it shows how the evolution of the immigration laws over time. She has highlighted the plight of Mexican, Asian, and European women who wanted to come to enter the country by the use of past court cases from the Immigration and Naturalization services. The objective of the study was to show how a proper woman immigrant should conduct herself to gain entry into the country; how race, family status, sexuality, and gender was incorporated into law to determine who entered the country.

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The author starts as of with the experiences of Concepcio' n de la Cruz, whose family passed through a humiliating ordeal at the hand's immigration officials at the border of the US and Mexico. Their mother and siblings had their clothes removed and disinfected, after which they were searched for any defects in their bodies. De la Cruz and his father were spared the embarrassment. The shadow of the law seemed to favor men as compared to women (Gardner 11). Men were valued as they could serve in the military and provide labor in the many factories around the country while women's roles were restricted to being housewives. Thus the immigrant woman was judged by the system concerning her sexuality, race, and her role in the family.

Kenneth Y. Fung, an executive secretary for Chinese American citizens, was addressing the House Committee on Immigration in 1930, and he emphasized the significance of family values to the nation (Gardner 23). He highlighted how immigration should be gauged on family values rather than race. To circumnavigate over the archaic immigration rules, many women used marriage and the principle of coverture as a strategy to enter the country. As of 1855, a woman could be a citizen of the US via marriage to American citizens or through her father as a child. The law did not specify the status of an American woman citizen who married an alien up to 1907. Any woman who married an Alien became an alien was the legislation by Congress that year (Gardner 23). Domesticity and its doctrines were intertwined with immigration laws. The immigration department now became more of a guard of American families. Asian women survived racial exclusions by getting married to citizens. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 later made it hard for the Chinese to enter the country. Those who managed to come underwent rigorous questions before being allowed into the country (Gardner 29).

Women who were found to be engaging in prostitution could not enjoy derivative citizenship. The fact that they were not morally upright meant they would break the sanctity of o American value of family. Women found guilty of immoral behavior lived in fear of deportation by authorities (Gardner 40). It was the duty of the immigration officials to decide what constituted a legal marriage. Polygamous marriages were considered illegal and prohibited. Sexual laborers were seen as tarnishing the image of wives and were separated as undesirables by the immigration laws (Gardner 50). The labor system was exploitive in regards to race and gender, leading to a large number of Chinese women as prostitutes.

The discrimination against women also continued as those likely to become a public charge. The potential of women to contribute to the growth of the economy was not seen. (Gardner 97). They were seen as a financial burden to the economy more so if they were widows or not married. Poverty was a gendered ailment that was used to further discriminate against women. For instance, Alonso, who came from Mexico, said she was beginning to look for work as a housemaid had a high chance compared to Horowitz, who had two children and who worked as a seamstress. Alonso's work as a house servant was value more compared to the seamstress, and the proximity of the US to Mexico meant Alonso could smoothly go home if she did not find a job. This shows that though the law against public charge was at the discretion of the immigration official (Gardner 98). The women immigrant was bombarded by that the ideal individual should be a white male, financially stable individual.

Laws seem to favor single women whose work revolved around the house and against independent women who worked in the factory settings (Gardner 109). Thus women were always at the mercy of men as they could not be finically independent. Immigration laws favored women's domestic skills and shunned low skilled labor. Women now took advantage, and whenever they came from Mexico, they told the immigration officials that they are going to work in the domestic industry. Nurses were also given preferential treatment as the need for them soared during World War 1. At around 1920, gender biases were noticed by a social activist. The women immigrants found solace in federal courts, which seemed to be more understanding of their struggles in comparison with immigration officials (Gardener 121).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the system has worked hard to discriminate and control women for a long time. Through the use of court cases, the author has shown us how the immigration department used its power to discriminate against women while the men were not taken through the same agony at the borders. Other authors have also noted some of the works of the author about women immigrant suffrage, but the court cases have made his study more robust and detailed. Consequently, Gardener has shown us how the law and administrative bureaucracy have played a significant role in the discrimination of women with regards to race, poverty and family morals

Reference

Gardner, Martha. The Qualities of a Citizen. Princeton University Press, 2009.