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U.S. Chemists = Immigrants
T
his Editorial is a message—to Americans—about the important role(s) that immigration has played in the development of the U.S. as a nation, including the positive effects of immigration on its eminence in scientific and technological achievements. I admit that our current national conversation on Hispanic immigration has brought this to mind. I write with some shame that so many of my fellow citizens have forgotten (or never learned) historical lessons or have simply become selfish enough to claim that others cannot enjoy their historical good fortune. For emphasis, I prepared this Editorial while traveling in Mexico. Waves of immigration are driven by the seeking of opportunity for a better life and escaping hard times caused by economic, religious, war, or food-supply problems at home. The topic is a major one among historians, and a plethora of facts are available on the web. Roughly 35–40 million people immigrated to the New World in 1820–1924: waves of Germans in 1815–1914, Italians in 1876–1976, and Irish in 1840– 1890. Sadly, some immigration was forced, in the form of 11–12 million slaves during 1600–1900, but their descendants have greatly enriched the nation. Social and political tensions usually accompany waves of immigration. A wave of Chinese immigration was dampened by the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, one of the first legislative immigration actions. Other restrictions followed, such as the quotas of 1924 that, coupled with the onset of WWI in Europe and the start of the global Great Depression in 1929, substantially but temporarily curtailed the influx. Today, some 35 million immigrants reside in the U.S.—more than the population of Canada—but proportionally, this is a smaller fraction of immigrants than the country had from 1860 to 1920. More than one-half of the present immigrant population is Hispanic. The U.S. is in the midst of a Hispanic wave,
© 2006 AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
and the social tensions that accompanied previous waves have re-emerged. I ask the reader to reflect on how past waves of immigration have enriched this country, producing a powerful and diverse labor force that includes scientists and chemists and analytical chemists. Think about the national heritages reflected in the names of successful colleagues in your U.S. chemistry workplace, and remember that virtually all are from immigrant stock. (Murray spells Scottish, for example.) Think about what this nation would be without ample immigration! Look at the vibrant contributions that Asian immigrants are now making in the chemical sciences! And reflect on the fact that, within a generation, the surnames of many contributing chemists will be spelled Jerez or Sanchez. I maintain that the Hispanic wave is a challenge and an opportunity to educate a new generation of chemists. As in previous waves, education is the key. The National Research Council report Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future (www.nap.edu/catalog/11463. html) starkly outlines a global challenge if the U.S. is to maintain its excellence in the sciences. Part of that challenge is based on another aspect of immigration: attracting foreign students in science to the U.S. and creating conditions favorable for them to stay. Visa procedures that currently seem biased against scientists must be changed to favor them; these are vital shorter-term aids that will help us foster a growing and diverse scientific workforce. The Hispanic wave is a longer-term one that should be recognized for the great opportunity for science that it is.
D E C E M B E R 1 , 2 0 0 6 / A N A LY T I C A L C H E M I S T R Y
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