Category: Immigration

Muslim Immigration and New Year's Eve in Cologne, Germany

1/26/2016

On New Year’s Eve, 2015, in Cologne, Germany, over 1,000 men of “Arab or North African origin” allegedly sexually assaulted and robbed hundreds of women, according to German police. From this night, German police have received over 676 criminal complaints, ranging from unwanted groping, physical harm, and rape. The incidents occurred at the Cologne train station, and in between the train station and the Cologne Cathedral, an area which forms a pedestrian-friendly zone in the city. These attacks have shocked the country of Germany, in part because Germany has enjoyed for decades peaceful city celebrations at night, and because in the last year, the country has welcomed nearly 1,000,000 immigrants from Syria and other Muslim-dominated countries.

Refugee Crisis from the Muslim World
In previous current event articles from The Classical Historian, we have explained in detail the reason why millions of refugees are fleeing countries of Muslim-dominated populations. For these articles, go here. Briefly, when the United States of America pulled all of its forces out of Iraq, a power vacuum was created. Terrorists in Iraq began attacking the free Iraqi government and began to seize land. In neighboring Syria, terrorists and Syrian rebels began a civil war against the Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad. President Obama threatened military action against Assad, if he were to use chemical weapons. Assad used the chemical weapons, but Obama backed down from his threat. In response to this, Russian President Putin has sent massive amounts of weapons and large numbers of soldiers to support Assad. With the resulting confusion and chaos in Syria and Iraq, millions are fleeing the area.

German Chancellor Merkel Welcomes Refugees
Modern Germany has two issues that directly relate to the refugee crisis of the Muslim world. The first has to do with German history. In World War II, Nazi Germany attempted to conquer Europe, dominate the world, and murder all Jews and others who did not fit the “superior race” model of Nazis. After the Allies defeated Germany in 1945, Germans have tried to redeem itself from the guilt of their horrendous past. This in part explains why German Chancellor Merkel has invited Muslims from the troubled areas of the Middle East to immigrate to Germany. The second issue Germany is dealing with, and most of Europe is as well, is that of a declining birth rate and population. The German population is slowly dying out, with the average German couple not reproducing numbers that will guarantee the continuation of Germany, long term. This means, that in a few decades, Germany will not have enough workers to pay for the retirees in Germany. For these two reasons, Chancellor Merkel invited Muslims from war-torn areas of the world to immigrate to Germany

The Values of Germany
Modern Germany can be described as a secular democratic-republican state, founded on Judeo-Christian principles, and a country in which most people do not see themselves as belonging to any particular religion. This means that much like the United States of America, Germans enjoy many political liberties, including the right to vote, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press. In addition, women enjoy political and social equality with men. In traditional, religious German families, Germans still believe that the role of the man is to act chivalrous towards women, to protect all females, and to be courteous and civil. In non-religious German families, Germans believe that women should be treated as equals, and that there should be no form of oppression towards females.

The Values of Islam
In Muslim-dominated countries, the legal policy of the state is sharia, a form of Islamic law. In the following countries Sharia is the law of the land: Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Brunei, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Yemen, Mauritania. And, in all the areas controlled by these radical Islamic terrorist organizations, Sharia is practiced: ISIS, Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Boko Haram, the Taliban. In many western countries where Muslims have moved, Muslims have set up local Sharia courts outside of the power of the country they live in.

In most cases, Sharia law is seen as strongly against women and against traditional liberties found in Western countries, like Germany. The following is a short list of practices followed sharia, and their punishments:

Any Muslim who converts to Christianity or stops practicing as a Muslim is executed.
Any person who speaks against Muhammad or Islam is executed.
Any person preaching another religion other than Islam is executed.
Any person who is not a Muslim has to pay a special tax and has limited rights. Failure to pay the tax may result in execution or enslavement.
Homosexual acts are punishable by execution.
Men are allowed to beat their wives.
Men are allowed to have four wives (at the same time).
Men may marry children.
Slavery is allowed.
If a woman is raped, she must have four male witnesses to prove the rape happened.
A woman caught committing adultery is buried up to her head in dirt, and then stoned to death.
Women in public must have all parts of their skin covered.
Females are not allowed outside of their house unless they are accompanied by a male from their family, such as their Dad, brother, or uncle.
In certain cases, honor killings are allowed. If a girl is seen to dishonor her family, it is the duty of her father to kill her.

Germans See Problems with Mass Muslim Immigration to Germany
Because of the greatly differing values of Germans and Muslims, many in Germany are against Chancellor Merkel’s open door policy of allowing Muslims to immigrate in large numbers to Germany. They cite the recent sexual assaults in Cologne, Germany, as evidence that Merkel’s policy is ruining Germany. There is also concern that the German media is not reporting incidents that are unfavorable towards Muslims. Hans-Peter Friedrich, a former interior minister under Angela Merkel, accused the public broadcasters of operating a “cartel of silence.” “There’s suspicion that they believe they don’t have to report on such assaults, especially involving migrants and foreigners, for fear of unsettling the public,” he said. The attackers in Cologne have brought a clear picture of the problems that occur when a society accepts hundreds of thousands of Muslim men from sharia-friendly countries.

Questions:

What happened in Cologne, Germany on New Year’s Eve, 2015?
Why is there a Muslim refugee crisis?
What did Chancellor Merkel do in regards to refugees from predominantly Muslim countries?
What are the traditional values of Germany?
What is sharia law and how does it treat women?
In your opinion, what should be Germany’s position in relation to the refugees?

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Immigration, Part II

12/17/2014

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1850-1899
Immigration to America surged in the second half of the 1800s. This “immigration wave” led the U.S. to organize a system to process all the people in a systematic way that was viewed as most beneficial way for America, and, to limit the influx of people.

In 1882, the U.S. government passed two pieces of major legislation regarding immigration. One was the Chinese Exclusion Act. The other was the Immigration Act of 1882. The Chinese Exclusion Act forbade Chinese to move to the U.S. The U.S. did this because it believed Chinese would not assimilate into American culture and because Americans feared Chinese were taking jobs. There was no such restriction for Europeans. The Immigration Act of 1882 set up a federal bureaucracy to handle the mass immigration from Europe of the 1880s. Immigrants entering the country by ship had to pay a tax. Any person unable to care for himself, with a criminal record, or with a mental of physical issue could be denied entry. From 1892-1954, many immigrants arrived through Ellis Island in New York, where U.S. officials accepted or rejected the applicants.

1900-1950
Mass immigration to America continued in the first decade of the 1900s but dropped dramatically after. This was due to three causes: World War I, American desire to allow entry only to those who support a free republic, and racial prejudices.

1.  World War I, 1914-1917, made it difficult for people to immigrate to America because of all the personal hardships and duties of citizens at war. In addition, World War I was started by a Serbian anarchist and Americans didn’t want to admit any dangerous individuals.

2. In 1901, anarchist Leon Czolgosz assassinated President McKinley. Czolgosz was a Polish-American and Catholic whose parents had emigrated from Eastern Europe. McKinley’s murder made it obvious that some immigrants had the potential to harm the country. Because Czolgosz was of Polish and Catholic background and the majority of Americans were Protestant English, French, or German, Americans wanted to limit people from eastern and southern Europe. Also, America’s immigration policies were meant to keep out communists, who had pledged to destroy the United States.

3. The eugenics movement of the early 1900s promoted the idea that Americans of English, French, and northern German origin were genetically and socially superior than the rest of the world. Leaders in academia supported this idea. The Immigration Restriction League, comprised of presidents of Harvard, Wharton, and Stanford, believed in the idea of eugenics.

The Immigration Act of 1924, the National Origins Act, and the Asian Exclusion Act placed restrictions on the number of immigrants allowed to enter the U.S.A. based on their country of origin. Americans believed their country would be stronger if its population was from similar cultures and that people from certain ethnic and religious groups were genetically or socially inferior to others. The number of immigrants allowed to enter into the country was limited to 2% of foreign-born residents from a particular country in the 1890 census. In 1929, this was changed so that the total immigration from any one country could be 150,000, based on a percentage of a country’s representation of the U.S. population in 1920. During this time, illegal immigration to America increased.

1951-2000
In the second half of the 1900s, two changes regarding immigration to America greatly influenced immigration.

Under the Bracero Program, Mexican citizens were allowed to come and work temporarily. When this program ended in 1964, Mexicans began coming illegally to the United States in every-increasing numbers. The number of Mexicans and Latin Americans living illegally in the United States is estimated at somewhere over 11 million.

In 1965, the United States abolished the nation of origin restrictions in the Hart-Celler Act, opening up immigration to America base on kinship ties, refugee status, and needed skills. This law dramatically changed the number and origion of people immigrating to the U.S. And, as the Vietnamese War ended, many war refugees fled the communists and moved to America, where the immigrants were received as refugees.

2001-2011
On September 11, 2001, terrorists from Asia (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Lebanon) hijacked American planes and crash-landed them into the World Trade Center towers in New York city, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and in a field in Pennsylvania. The terrorists had entered the United States legally. The United States began a war on terror that we are currently in. Because of the threat of terrorism, many Americans are worried that there is a grave threat to the United States from legal and illegal immigration to the country.

Illegal immigration has continued from America’s southern borders in great numbers. Because the United States government has not done enough to secure the southern border, various states have tried to implement federal law. To fight a state attempting to follow the law, the Obama administration has sued Arizona for trying to implement federal law regarding immigration.

Questions to Discuss:
1.         Is it correct for the United States to limit immigration? Why do you think this?
2.         Does the fight with terrorists affect how the U.S.A. should legislate immigration control?
3.         What should the U.S. do with its illegal immigrants?

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Immigration to the US, Part I

12/10/2014

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1776-1899
In the summer of 2014, around 50,000 minors from Central America and Mexico illegally crossed the U.S. border from Mexico, hoping that the U.S. government would accept them into America, house, feed, and educate them, and eventually allow for citizenship. This migration of young people caused many Americans to argue strongly, either for allowing the youth into the U.S., or to deny entry. Much disinformation exists about immigration to the United States. To understand immigration to America today, it is worthwhile to understand it historically.

For immigration, it is best to break up the first 125 years into four periods: 1776-1788, 1789-1802, 1800-1849, and 1850-1899. For the most part, the immigration policy of America was open, but, there were also restrictions on immigrants, for good reasons and sometimes, for bad. Like every country in the world, the United States wanted to maintain its existence and grow in strength. It tried to allow immigrants who would strengthen the republic. America encouraged immigrants with similar cultural backgrounds to encourage the growth of the republican form of government. And, as with every country of the world, it appears Americans favored certain nationality groups over others primarily because of their race.

1776-1788
After winning independence from Great Britain, the new country was united under the Articles of Confederation. Because American Founding Fathers were wary of a strong king, the first government they created allowed for great freedom of the states, and each state decided on its own immigration policy. For example, to become a United States citizen of Maryland, a person had to declare a belief in the Christian religion. In South Carolina, a person had to live in the state for at least two years. There was great variety in how each state handled immigration, with some more restrictive than others.

1789-1802
Like all new countries, the U.S.A. faced many existential threats. Great Britain did not respect America and kidnapped American sailors, forcing them to be British sailors. Britain had troops still stationed on America’s western frontier. France was in the middle of their revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, and wanted the U.S. support in defeating Britain. When we didn’t side with France, the French attacked American ships. The American government was cautious to allow French and British immigrants. It was also guided by the idea of allowing citizens from countries of similar cultures, with the idea that the new government, a republic, would be strengthened by people of similar ideas.

In 1789, the 13 states ratified the U.S. Constitution created by the American Founding Fathers. One of the new Congress’ first acts was to write legislation regarding immigration and naturalization. Naturalization is the process how U.S. citizenship is granted to a foreign citizen. In the first two Naturalization Acts (1790 and 1795), citizenship was allowed to “free white persons, of “good moral character.” The immigrant had to live in the country for a number of years (first 2, and then in 1795, the residency years was increased to 5 years), take an oath to support the Constitution, to renounce any title of nobility, and to renounce any loyalty to any other nation. In 1798, the Alien and Sedition Acts were passed. Residency requirements increased to 14 years and the President could imprison any immigrant he thought was dangerous.

1800-1849
This time period was one of incredible American expansion into the western part of North America. Immigration during these years came from Europe, but new citizens also came from the lands that had been part of Mexico. Indians were not eligible to obtain citizenship based on the Naturalization laws of the 1790s. Indians were considered nonwhite, and were seen as members of their tribes, which were not part of American citizenry. Mexicans who lived in the areas of land won by the United States in the Mexican-American War of 1846-48 were allowed to become American citizens. Citizens from northwestern European countries, especially England and France, continued to migrate to the U.S. The Irish Potato Famine of 1845 pushed many Irish to America. Years of residency requirement dropped from 14 years to five years.

1850-1899
In the second half of the 19th century, immigration to America reached its highpoint. Europeans immigrated in large numbers to the U.S., and the U.S. government tried to slow or stop all Asians from moving to the United States. In 1862, President Lincoln signed the “Homestead Act of 1862.” This act allowed Congress to sell land for $1.25 an acre, and attracted millions of Europeans to settle the west. The Gold Rush of 1849, and political problems in Germany and France brought Europeans to America. In 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act passed. This law stopped all Chinese from migrating to America.

Questions:
1.      At which time period did the states control immigration? Why?
2.      During which years was immigration strongly discouraged? Why?
3.      During which time period was the most immigration to America?
4.      Based on the graphs below, which decade, from 1776-1899, did America have the most immigration?

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Muslim Immigration and New Year's Eve in Cologne, Germany

Immigration, Part II

Immigration to the US, Part I

John De Gree

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Muslim Immigration and New Year's Eve in ﻿Cologne, Germany

Immigration, Part II

Immigration to the US, Part I

John De Gree

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Archives

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Muslim Immigration and New Year's Eve in Cologne, Germany