Thesis and Roadmaps:

Thesis: Prompt 1 Gatekeeping: In At America’s Gates, Erika Lee reframes the U.S. as a "gatekeeping nation," arguing that the Chinese Exclusion laws initiated broader transformations in immigration policy, racial and gender identity, and family structures for Asian and Latinx communities. Drawing from lectures, films, and class readings, provide two specific examples (from 1880s–1940s) of how immigration laws affected the lives of Asian and Latinx immigrants. In your conclusion, explain how the legacy of Chinese Exclusion influenced future immigration policies or court rulings. 

Immigration policies between the 1880s and 1940s affected the lives of Asian and Latinx immigrants by restricting their entry and rights while simultaneously exploiting their labor, reinforcing the U.S.´s role as a gatekeeping nation.

Roadmap: Prompt 1 Gatekeeping

This essay will examine the Chinese Exclusion act as and example of how asian immigrants were excluded and radicalized, and the Bracero Program as a case of how Latinx immigrant lives were recruited yet marginalized, concluding with how the legacy of Chinese Exclusion shaped later policies such as the Johnson-Reed Act of 1924.

Thesis 2

Racial Capitalism influenced early 20th century immigration policy by combining racialized exclusion and the exploitation of labor, ensuring that asian and Latinx workers are both essential to the economy and socially marginalized.

Roadmap 2

This essay examines the Chinese Exclusion Act and Bracero Program to show how both economic demands and racial hierarchies shaped immigration policy and enforcement, and will discuss examples of how migrants showed resistance and challenged discrimination.