history

# Immigration

Remembering the Immigration Act of 1924

The late 1800s and early 1900s was a period of expanding and diversifying immigration to the United States. Prior to that time, the majority of immigrants to the U.S. came from Northwestern Europe, but between 1890 and 1920, most immigrants originated in Southern and Eastern Europe. Predictably, this shift caused a negative political reaction, which ultimately led to the very restrictive and racist Immigration Act of 1924 (also called the Johnson-Reed Act after the Congressmen who sponsored it).

It may be a fool’s errand to look for parallels between 1924 and 2024, but we’re going to try it anyway. And perhaps there are lessons to be learned from the Immigration Act one hundred years later.

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By Jason Dzubow
# Human Rights# International

Remembering Queen Elizabeth’s First Public Speech – About Refugees

The longest-serving British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, passed away last week. The Queen leaves a complicated legacy that has touched many aspects of life in Britain and the world beyond. She became queen in 1952, when women with power were few and far between. For the next seven decades, she steered the monarchy into the modern era. While she served as a spiritual and moral leader for her nation and the British Commonwealth, she rarely opined about political issues. Perhaps her effort to stay “above” politics helped her serve as a unifying force in Great Britain, where she remained widely respected, admired, and loved until her death last week at age 96.

In this post, I want to remember one small, but significant, incident from the Queen’s long life–the very first public speech she gave as a 14-year old princess on BBC’s Children’s Hour.

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By Jason Dzubow
# Asylum Seekers

The Ancient Origins of Asylum: Part II

In the last post, I wrote about the mythical origins of asylum and about the cities of refugee of the ancient Israelites. The Classical Greeks had a different concept of asylum than the Israelites. The Greeks recognized holy places—temples, alters, statues—as protected. To rob from a sacred place was to rob from the gods. This … Read more

By Jason Dzubow