CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE ASIAN IMMIGRANTS TO THE U.S. LABOUR FORCE IN THE 20TH CENTURY =

Abstract

ABSTRACT Immigration has long been a fundamental part of American history. Along with the Europeans, the Asians were the early immigrants to the United States of America (U.S.). However, due to the discrimination from the white, the contributions of Asian immigrants to the U.S. economy, particularly to the U.S. labour force seemed not to well recognized, especially, with their increasing in number and in quality since the passage of the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act. Thus, this study is conducted as an attempt to show the undeniable contributions of the Asian immigrants in the 20th century for the U.S. labour force. The study also indicated some insignificant hindrances and supports from the legislative aspect of the U.S. government for Asian immigrants at this time. In this study, contributions of Asian immigrants to the U.S. in the 20th century were examined through surveying and comparing different related documents such as books, journals, articles and related studies from the official resource of the federal government. The investigation found that Asian immigrants contributed to the U.S. labour force in terms of quantity and quality. These contributions have built up since the turning of the 20th century; however, they became significant after the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. As regard the supports and hindrances to the Asian immigrants when entering the U.S. labour force, the investigation in the paper revealed that in the first half of the 20th century, the U.S. federal government imposed many acts to restrict the entry of Asians and then prevented them from contributing to the U.S. labour force. These restrictions only ended in 1965 and promoted the significantly contributions of Asian immigrants to the U.S. economy in general and U.S. labour force in particular.