Courts shifted from protecting aliens to endorsing state employment discrimination against them

Evidence

Most obviously the depression preyed on the nativistic susceptibilities of workingmen, who now coveted the inferior jobs the immigrants held. … In Arizona the State Federation of Labor, supported by the miners, secured as an initiative measure a law requiring all employers of more than five workers to recruit at least 80 per cent of their labor force from American citizens. As a general and drastic restriction on the employment of foreigners in private industry, the law was unprecedented, and the United States Supreme Court soon declared it in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. On the other hand, the Supreme Court was adjusting itself to milder discriminatory statutes. In the 1890’s it had invoked the Fourteenth Amendment against laws excluding aliens from employment on public works. But now the Supreme Court upheld a New York statute of that nature when the Bricklayers’ Union demanded its enforcement against unnaturalized Italians engaged in building the New York subways. In effect the Justices endorsed the discharge of the Italians, in conformity with the law, on the ground that the state in selecting its employees should have the same freedom that private employers enjoy—the freedom to discriminate against any group. — John Higham, Strangers in the Land, 1087

Categorization

• XREF: Institutional legitimation of an enemy category accelerating precisely as rational-legal safeguards give way — relevant to the reader’s backfire-and-correction theme. — connects to: National security exceptions legally override anti-discrimination protections for Muslims — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 564; A court ruling allowed rounding up foreigners on race or religion; Private citizens’ discriminatory acts get reinforced by state security policies (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• National security exceptions legally override anti-discrimination protections for Muslims #expands (0.82) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 564
• Courts upheld detention of immigrants based on race, religion, or national origin. #exemplifies (0.78) — Moustafa Bayoumi, How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? Being…, 1052
• A court ruling allowed rounding up foreigners on race or religion #exemplifies (0.75)
• Private citizens’ discriminatory acts get reinforced by state security policies #expands (0.72)
• Deportation emerged as a sanction for aliens who resisted wartime assimilation. #expands (0.72) — John Higham, Strangers in the Land, 1497