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When America Tried to Deport Its Radicals

newyorker.com

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Re: When America Tried to Deport Its Radicals

#4
> In 1919, alarmed by the growing presence of “peoples of Asiatic races,” the Anti-Alien League called for a constitutional amendment “to restrict citizenship by birth within the United States to the children of parents who are of a race which is eligible for citizenship”—i.e., whites. Senator Wesley Jones, of Washington State, promised to introduce such a measure—a proposal not unlike today’s calls to end birthright citizenship.

The majority of countries don’t have birthright citizenship, and Ireland and New Zealand got rid of it in the 21st century. Yet in the view of the New Yorker, that common rule is “not unlike” a rule that would limit citizenship to a specific race.

(I’m a big proponent of birthright citizenship. But the New Yorker’s framing of it devalues it by making it seem like the baseline, instead of an example of American exceptionalism.)

Re: When America Tried to Deport Its Radicals

#5
post #4

> In 1919, alarmed by the growing presence of “peoples of Asiatic races,” the Anti-Alien League called for a constitutional amendment “to restrict citizenship by birth within the United States to the children of parents who are of a race which is eligible for citizenship”—i.e., whites. Senator Wesley Jones, of Washington State, promised to introduce such a measure—a proposal not unlike today’s calls to end birthright…

>American exceptionalism

Almost the entire North and South America has it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jus_soli

Re: When America Tried to Deport Its Radicals

#6
post #2

The British empire essentially deported many of its criminals to Australia. The USSR banished their radicals to Siberia... I’m sure others have done similar.

Yeah but none of those claim to be the "land of the freedom" and other platitudes as loudly as the Americans

Re: When America Tried to Deport Its Radicals

#7
post #5
post #4

> In 1919, alarmed by the growing presence of “peoples of Asiatic races,” the Anti-Alien League called for a constitutional amendment “to restrict citizenship by birth within the United States to the children of parents who are of a race which is eligible for citizenship”—i.e., whites. Senator Wesley Jones, of Washington State, promised to introduce such a measure—a proposal not unlike today’s calls to end birthright…

>American exceptionalism Almost the entire North and South America has it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jus_soli

The US is historically unique in its ability to Americanize immigrants and lift them into prosperity. Birthright citizenship isn’t unique to the US, but the is a pillar of what makes the US unique.

Re: When America Tried to Deport Its Radicals

#10
post #8

This kind of thing is why it's important to challenge the framing of people as "illegal"; citizenship is an administrative category, and abusive governments can find all sorts of excuses to end or revoke it.

This doesn’t make sense to me. Aren’t all laws then “administrative categories”, of those who commit or don’t commit the corresponding crimes? Breaking the law means, per definition, that someone has committed an illegal action. Calling someone an “illegal immigrant” is appropriate when the crime is immigration related.
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