Migrating is a natural human attribute,
some may say even a need. Archeologists trace evidence of migrating humans back to
the Paleolithic era when humans moved from Africa to Europe and from there to
the rest of the word. Nowadays however, we have sovereign entities called countries
that claim a tract of land for themselves and exercise jurisdiction over that land
as well as sovereignty through managing who can and cannot access the country.
That is, humans have created social abstract constrictions that made it hard
for us to cross from one country to the other without facing serious legal
ramifications.
What we need to understand first
is that illegal immigration is not merely a result of deteriorating living
conditions but also a cultural tendency in certain societies that need not
always to be the consequence of harsh living standards in certain regions or
countries. That, however, does not deny that illegal immigration is a reaction
of people who suffer from war, epidemics, poverty in a failed country and economy
with widespread discrimination due to race, ethnicity or religion. Such factors
push people to leave their country of origin and thus we label them as push
factors (LeMay 2013). Our point here is that among immigrants, some may only do
it for fun. In some societies, people may value and flatter those who illegally
migrate calling them heroes and thus setting role models for the next generations.
Immigration laws are as old as time
itself, but it was not as loud and fiercely applied as today. For example, in
Babylon, around 1754 BCE, one of the oldest laws relating to immigration and
emigration was created under the Code of Hammurabi. Under this code, the law
required all those who were planning to immigrate to or from the country to get
permission from the king.
With growth and development of
early civilizations, the systems of management of foreign residents became more
advanced. By 5th Century BCE, the Greeks introduced the concept of conditional
residence in ancient Greece. While neighboring Sparta had strict laws restricting
any foreigners within the borders of the state, Athens gave a chance to
foreigners to live in the city-state on the condition of payment of a certain
tax (metoikion) and sponsorship of some citizen of Athens.
Centuries Later, medieval Europe adopted regulations concerning the traveling of strangers based on economics. In 1215 CE, Clause 41 of Magna Carta of England established basic regulations of international business where foreigners were guaranteed the right to enter, live and leave England without being arbitrarily taxed – although this guarantee would cease to apply if there was war against their country.
Following this medieval
commercial regulation, England introduced the system of documentation for
travel in the 15th century. The Safe Conducts Act of 1414, introduced under
King Henry V, imposed sanctions on those people who broke the treaties and
documents of safe conduct issued by the monarch. Thus, this regulation was the
historical precursor to today's passport system.
The idea of immigration control
changed dramatically during the emergence of nation-states in the late 18th
century and became a means of securing the state and controlling political
processes. In 1798, the newly founded United States introduced Alien and
Sedition Acts due to the fear of war with France. This act introduced some of
the earliest border controls in the Americas, raising the residence requirement
for citizenship to 14 years and giving the right to the president to deport any
non-citizen who is considered to be threatening for the state.
In this case, the national
security and domestic control led to the formation of very restrictive and
categorical frameworks for immigration policies in the late 19th century. In
reality, the era of restrictive and categorical borders started with the United
States' Page Act of 1875, which banned criminal and forced laborers from
entering the states. After two years, the United States introduced Chinese
Exclusion Act of 1882, which was the first piece of legislation banning Chinese
laborers from entering the country for ten years.