This law “established a uniform national citizenship, Congress changed the nation 's naturalization laws to allow for the naturalization of white persons and persons of african descent, pointedly excluding Asians.” (Michelson 2). The fourteenth amendment changed the naturalization, or the process of being granted U.S citizenship, by only allowing “white” persons or people of African descent to become citizens. Asians have been excluded from many things relating to immigration. Asian immigration has been so sparse that Asians only represented less than 1 percent of the population during this time period. The fourteenth amendment was used to “bar Asians from entry to the United States.” (Michaelson 2). In 1892 and 1902 the Chinese exclusion Act was renewed for another ten years. Then in 1904 the Chinese laborers were banned from entering the United States. President Theodore Roosevelt wanted to make an agreement to settle the dispute between the United States and Asian countries. They came up with the Gentleman’s agreement, where the Japanese agreed to restrict the number of Japanese laborers who wanted to immigrate to America. The United States also agreed to reduce the discrimination against the Japanese residents. (Immigration 2). There were also laws on others coming into America like the physically handicapped or mentally …show more content…
The stories of Lisa and Laura Tollessen and Amelia Giacomo are very different and the families had very different experiences. The Giacomo family came from Lucca, Italy. Their family was experiencing poverty and they wanted to have a better life and a better place to call home. The Tollesson family came from Norway, after their dad immigrated there before the first World War. The families both had horrible experiences on their journeys to America. The Giacomo family traveled to America during the first World War, which means they had to have multiple safety precautions. The daughter Laura in the Tollesson family had gotten very sick. She was separated from her family and put into a different room to prevent the sickness from spreading. The Giacomo family arrived in America in 1916. The story didn 't give any further information about their experiences after the arrived at Ellis