A diverse county in a country of immigrants: Now being challenged

Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

San Mateo County has been recognized as one of the most diverse in the West. By 1880, one-third of the population of about 8,700, were immigrants from nearly 15 different countries, including Irish, Chinese, Germans, English, Scandinavians, and Scottish. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was the first law targeting Chinese laborers and prohibiting them from U.S. citizenship.  Thereafter, jobs in the County were filled by Portuguese, Italians, and Japanese. The act passed because the Chinese threatened the status quo.  Finally, the Chinese sought justice from the U.S. Supreme Court and created birthright citizenship in 1898.  

In 1942 the United States went to war and anti-Asian sentiment turned against Japanese Americans and the Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed because the United States needed China as an ally. Horse stalls at Tanforan Racetrack in San Bruno became housing for more than 8,000 Japanese Americans, mostly citizens, for several months until being shipped to long-term concentration camps. Then U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier was instrumental in saving Library of Congress records about Tanforan, and there is now a Tanforan Memorial.  

My paternal grandfather, Eijiro Nishimura, immigrated in the late 1800s into America by working on the railroad from Canada to San Francisco for a new life. Moving to Los Angeles, he bought property, a business, married my grandmother in Japan, returned to start a family — became U.S. citizens — then World War II started.  Asked if he was bitter at the U.S. government — taking his property and liberty in 1942 and incarcerating the family — grandpa responded, “No, if I were bitter about the American government’s past, I would miss the present and the good things happening with my children and grandchildren.” When he died at 103 years, he still believed in the American dream.

In 1920 and 1924, the Immigration Acts were enacted, codifying the National Origins Quota System, encouraging immigration from Northern and Western Europe, limiting immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe, Africa, Middle East, and excluding immigration from Asia. The Immigration Acts were repealed by President Lyndon Johnson signing the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965.

This sentiment is captured in former President John F. Kennedy’s book, “A Nation of Immigrants.” A descendant of Irish immigrants, Kennedy’s political career and presidency were driven by immigration reform. Published in 1958 by the Anti-Defamation League against the National Origins Quota System, he continued making revisions until his assassination. It was published posthumously in 1964, with an introduction by his brother, then-Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.

Kennedy’s book highlights the value immigrants brought to our country, while acknowledging the hardships endured in pursuit of a better life.  Kennedy reminded Americans that “Everywhere immigrants have enriched and strengthened the fabric of American life” and “contributed to the strength of the new society in several ways,” bringing “technical and managerial skills which contributed greatly to economic growth in the new land.” Kennedy reminded that, “Every American who ever lived, with the exception of one group, was either an immigrant himself or a descendant of immigrants.”  

According to Kennedy, “Perhaps our brightest hope for the future lies in the lessons of the past.” The American way — our culture, customs, economy, and society — was formed by immigrants. Immigrants built our county and country — we are a great nation of immigrants.  History is repeating itself and the American immigration open door is again challenged.  

Nanci E. Nishimura, a partner at Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, serves on the Commission on Uniform State Laws, former chair of the Commission on Judicial Performance, and boards of the Smithsonian Institution, California Science Center Foundation, and Asian Art Museum.