The Politics of Panic
America's Never-Ending Fear of the New Immigrant
The 1893 cartoon “Looking Backward” captures a timeless hypocrisy: well-dressed, established Americans—descendants of earlier immigrants—shun a new arrival, forgetting their own families once faced the same hostility. This powerful image reflects a cycle of rejection that repeats across generations.
The men in the cartoon represent groups that were once scorned and vilified, but now, they are the gatekeepers, rejecting those who stand in their old shoes. The message is clear: each wave of immigrants, no matter where they come from, faces the same cycle of fear and rejection.
Fast forward to 2024, and the same pattern is playing out in real time. The rhetoric against immigrants has reached a new peak, with the far right demonizing newcomers as criminals, carriers of disease, cultural threats, and even absurdly, pet-eaters. The voices of the past—warning that immigrants would “steal jobs” or “refuse to assimilate”—are being echoed today, but now they are aimed at different groups.
Immigrants are once again being scapegoated in political campaigns, portrayed as invaders who threaten the very fabric of American life. This fear-driven narrative is fueling extreme policy proposals, from mass deportations to building ever-taller walls.
But this is nothing new. Just as the faces of immigrants have changed, so too have the specific accusations, but the underlying fears remain the same. The very people whose ancestors were once excluded and vilified are now perpetuating the same cycle of fear against a new generation of immigrants.
Through this post, we’ll explore how history repeats itself by examining the recurring accusations against immigrants through the lens of political cartoons.
Building the Walls of Exclusion: Racism and Prejudice as Barriers
As the fear of economic competition from immigrants grew, so too did the demand for exclusionary measures. At the height of the anti-Chinese sentiment in the late 19th century, Chinese laborers were accused of taking jobs from white workers, especially on the West Coast.
In “The Anti-Chinese Wall” (above), a group of recent immigrants—including Irish, Black, French, German, and Dutch laborers—build a barrier to keep out Chinese immigrants. This reflects how exclusionary policies have long been driven by economic fear.
By the early 20th century, the debate over immigration restrictions expanded beyond the Chinese. In “A Crying Need for General Repairs” (1904), we see Uncle Sam inspecting an “immigration restriction” wall that is falling into disrepair. The imagery claims more needs to be done to keep undesirable immigrants from entering the country.
Today’s calls for border walls, heightened immigration enforcement, and mass deportations echo these historical fears. The same belief that immigrants pose a threat to American society continues to drive exclusionary policies, albeit with different groups now the focus of the debate.
Immigrants as a Source of Crime and Social Chaos
The idea that immigrants bring crime is as old as America itself. In the early 20th century, Italians were tied to organized crime, fifty years earlier - German and Irish immigrants were stereotyped as drunks. These portrayals contributed to a broader narrative that immigrants were inherently more prone to criminality than native-born Americans.
In “Honest Industry vs. Bolshevism” (1919), the fear of immigrants bringing dangerous ideologies is depicted, with radical political movements like Bolshevism being associated with foreign-born workers. This cartoon reflects the widespread fear that immigrants, especially those from Eastern Europe, were introducing Marxist and anarchist ideologies that threatened American democracy.
Today, similar fears are aimed at immigrants from poorer nations or regions experiencing conflict, with groups like MS-13 frequently invoked to stoke fears of immigrant-driven gang violence. The continued association of immigrants with crime fuels calls for stricter immigration enforcement and harsher penalties for those who enter the country illegally.
“The Fool Pied Piper” (1909) extends this theme, showing immigrants being led into America like rats, ready to sow chaos. (Zoom in to read their labels.)
The use of such dehumanizing imagery reinforces the idea that immigrants pose an existential threat to American society. This false narrative of immigrants as criminals and catalysts of social disorder has persisted across generations, justifying exclusionary policies throughout American history.
Cultural Contamination: The Fear of Foreign Influence
For much of its history, America has grappled with the fear that new immigrants would fail to assimilate into mainstream society. This anxiety has been particularly strong when immigrants come from cultures seen as radically different from those of the dominant population.
In the 19th century, Irish Catholic immigrants were viewed with suspicion, accused of being loyal to the Pope rather than to American institutions.
In “The American River Ganges” (Harper’s Weekly, 1871), this fear is brought to life with a powerful image of Catholic priests depicted as crocodiles threatening American children. The cartoon reflects the widespread 19th century belief that Catholicism was a foreign influence that would corrupt American Protestant values.
Fast forward to today, and we see similar accusations leveled against Muslim immigrants, who are often portrayed as unwilling to integrate and as potential threats to American democracy. Meanwhile, Spanish-speaking immigrants from various regions face accusations of refusing to learn English, adding to the perception that they are fragmenting the national culture.
Disease and Public Health Concerns: Immigrants as a Health Threat
Throughout American history, immigrants were blamed for spreading disease, a convenient way to justify exclusionary policies. In the 19th century, Irish immigrants were held responsible for cholera outbreaks in urban areas, while Chinese immigrants were scapegoated for bringing the plague to San Francisco. Public health crises often became intertwined with xenophobic fears, turning immigrants into scapegoats for broader societal anxieties.
In “The Immigrant: Is He an Acquisition or a Detriment?” (1893), immigrants are depicted as carrying disease, poverty, and ignorance into the country. This image reflects the perception that immigrants were a public health risk, a belief that persists to this day. (Note the “Health Officer” with sprayer in lower right)
During the COVID-19 pandemic, for instance, immigrant communities were often blamed for spreading the virus, despite evidence showing that these fears were largely unfounded. This narrative continues to influence immigration policy, with public health concerns being used as a rationale for tightening borders and restricting entry.
The “Invasion”: Immigrant Waves Overwhelming America
One of the most enduring images in anti-immigrant rhetoric is that of immigrants arriving in overwhelming numbers, threatening to swamp the country and displace its native-born population. This fear was commonly directed at Southern and Eastern European immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and it continues to resonate in discussions about immigration today.
In “The High Tide of Immigration—A National Menace” (Judge, 1903), immigrants are depicted as a massive tidal wave, threatening to engulf America. The cartoon embodies the fear that immigrants will fundamentally alter the nation’s demographic and cultural landscape.
Today, similar language is used to describe the arrival of large numbers of immigrants, often referred to as an “invasion” or “flood.” These metaphors reinforce the idea that immigration is a dangerous, uncontrollable force, prompting calls for stricter immigration controls and even the militarization of the border.
Remember the “invasion of migrant caravans” in the run up to 2020 election?
The Melting Pot or the Lodging House? America’s Uneasy Assimilation
While America prides itself on being a “nation of immigrants,” the process of assimilation has always been fraught with tension. Immigrants have historically struggled to maintain their cultural identities while being pressured to assimilate into mainstream American society.
This tension has been particularly visible during times of heightened nationalism, such as World War I, when German-Americans were viewed with suspicion for maintaining their language and customs.
In “Uncle Sam’s Lodging-House” (Puck, 1882), Uncle Sam inspects a room full of diverse immigrants, each representing a different nationality. The cartoon raises the question of how well these groups fit into the broader American identity and whether they can truly assimilate.
Similarly, “The Hyphenated American” (Puck) highlights the suspicion that immigrants who retain dual identities, such as Irish-Americans or German-Americans (the first two voters), are not fully loyal to the United States. This suspicion of divided loyalties persists today, as many immigrants continue to navigate the complexities of balancing their cultural heritage with their new American identities.
Religious and Ideological Fears: Immigrants as Subversive Elements
Finally, immigrants have often been portrayed as subversive elements, bringing with them dangerous political or religious ideologies that threaten American democracy. In the early 20th century, immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe were associated with radical ideologies such as socialism and anarchism.
In “Where the Blame Lies” (Hamilton, 1891), immigrants are depicted as the source of dangerous ideologies like anarchism, socialism, and revolution, all blamed for undermining the fabric of American society. This idea that immigrants bring with them subversive political ideologies echoes through history and persists today.
Muslim immigrants, in particular, are often unfairly associated with terrorism and religious extremism, while Latino immigrants are sometimes linked to gangs and drug cartels. These fears continue to fuel policies that target certain religious or ethnic groups, from the Muslim travel ban to proposals for increased surveillance of immigrant communities.
Just as Irish Catholics and Eastern European Jews were once viewed as threats to American democracy and stability, today’s immigrants face similar accusations. But history shows that these fears are largely unfounded, as immigrants have lower crime rates and consistently contributed to the strengthening of American democracy, not its downfall.
Conclusion: Learning from History
The fear and exclusion we see in the 2024 election are nothing new. For centuries, immigrants have been accused of stealing jobs, bringing disease, refusing to assimilate, and threatening American values. The same arguments once aimed at previous immigrants—now integral to American society—are being used against today’s newcomers.
As these historical cartoons remind us, today’s hostility is just a recycled version of past prejudice. Those once targeted by xenophobia are now the ones rejecting new arrivals. The irony is undeniable: the immigrants of one era become the fully integrated Americans of the next.
Rather than repeat the same mistakes, we should recognize that immigrants have always been a vital part of America’s story. The faces may change, but their contributions remain constant. By breaking this cycle of fear, we can finally live up to the ideal of America as a true nation of immigrants.
Postscript: A Personal Connection
As the grandchild of four Greek immigrants—with a bit of Albanian on my mother’s side—this history of discrimination is personal. Both of my grandfathers arrived in America first, working hard to establish themselves in a new country before their mothers arranged brides for them back in Greece. My grandparents, like so many others, came to America searching for opportunity but found themselves facing the same fears and prejudices that have followed each wave of immigrants. They were met with bias based on their language (“It’s all Greek to me”) and their Greek Orthodox faith, viewed with suspicion in a predominantly Protestant country.
Not long after they settled, the U.S. government passed the Immigration Act of 1924, which severely restricted immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe—targeting Greeks, Italians, Jews, and others considered ‘inferior’ and ‘undesirable.’ Greek immigration was limited to just 307 people per year until 1965. These quotas were part of a broader pattern of exclusion rooted in xenophobia, aiming to preserve a ‘preferred’ American identity. My family’s story reflects the cycle of fear and rejection that has long shaped America’s immigration policies.
Just because these anti-immigrant movements have recurred since the 19th neither makes them right no acceptable. I am an immigrant from Canada, albeit a long time ago, but I've never felt unwanted, probably because I am white, and have English as my first language. But really, our country is big enough and should welcome all newcomers so long as they are not criminals (and very, very few are) They do NOT take jobs from American citizens. They take jobs American aren't willing to perform. They are hardworkers, decent people, we should welcome. They are not handed cash as they enter the country, they do not receive welfare services. The only services undocumented immigrants can receive is emergency medical.
Unless you are Native American, everyone else came from somewhere else.