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Limits of intolerance: nativism and immigration control in nineteenth-century New York

ABSTRACT This article examines the development of immigration policy in New York State, analyzing why the state legislature failed to introduce an immigrant deportation law in the nineteenth century and its implications for understanding the mechanics of integration of immigrants who were vilified as unwanted people by residents in host society. In response to the growing immigration of the impoverished Irish during the first half of the nineteenth century, the New York legislature developed laws for restricting the landing of indigent foreigners. Nativist public officials and private citizens demanded not only restrictions on admission but also the deportation to Europe of needy foreigners already resident in the state. The New York legislature, however, remained hesitant to pursue that policy due to the political influence of immigrants, especially the Irish, who had formed a sizable voting bloc by midcentury. Extreme anti-immigrant measures, such as deportation, became too risky ideas for politicians concerned about alienating foreign-born voters. In nineteenth-century New York, the majority's response to the ethnic turnover came too late. Nativist Americans' demands for deportation needed to be tempered by the reality of immigrants' presence as a powerful political force.