Immigration to Argentina

Immigrants' Hotel, Buenos Aires. Built in 1906, it could accommodate up to 4,000.

Non-native population in Argentina, 1869–1991

The original inhabitants of Argentina were descendants of Asian peoples that crossed the Bering Land Bridge into North America and then, over thousands of years, reached the southern end of South America.

Immigration in Argentina, from that time on, can be divided in several major stages:

• Spanish colonization starting in the 16th century, displacing or forcefully integrating the indigenous inhabitants (see Population history of American indigenous peoples).
• European immigration, including Welsh settlement, in the 19th century, focused on colonization and sponsored by the government (sometimes on lands "freed" of the native inhabitants by the Conquest of the Desert in the last quarter of the century).
• The Italian Immigration became the mainstream of immigration that mold and cast the current cultural traits of Argentinians.
• The English and German immigration also contributed to diversify the melting pot of Argentine multiculturalism.
• Mostly urban immigration during the era of rapid growth in the late 19th century (from 1880 onwards) and the first half of the 20th century, before and after World War I and also after the Spanish Civil War.
• Economic migrants from Korea, China, Latin America and from Eastern Europe in the late 20th century and early 21st century.

Support and control of immigration

Copy of a colonization contract in the history museum of San José, Entre Ríos.

Since its unification as a country and before, Argentine rulers intended the country to welcome productive immigration, albeit selectively. Article 25 of the 1853 Constitution reads:

The Federal Government will encourage European immigration, and it will not restrict, limit or burden with any taxes the entrance into Argentine territory of foreigners who come with the goal of working the land, improving the industries and teach the sciences and the arts.

The Preamble of the Constitution, more generously, dictates a number of goals (justice, peace, defense, welfare and liberty) that apply "to all men in the world who wish to dwell on Argentine soil". The Constitution incorporates, along with other influences, the thought of Juan Bautista Alberdi, who expressed his opinion on the matter in succinct terms: "to rule is to populate".

The legal and organizational precedents of today's National Migrations Office (Dirección Nacional de Migraciones) can be found in 1825, when Rivadavia created an Immigration Commission. After the Commission was dissolved, the government of Rosas continued to allow immigration. Urquiza, under whose sponsorship the Constitution was drawn, encouraged the establishment of agricultural colonies in the Littoral (western Mesopotamia and north-eastern Pampas).

The first law dealing with immigration policies was Law 817 of Immigration and Colonization, of 1876. The General Immigration Office was created in 1898, together with an Immigrants' Hotel and an Immigrants' Hospital, in Buenos Aires.

The liberal rulers of the late 19th century saw immigration as the possibility of bringing people from supposedly more civilized, enlightened countries into a sparsely populated land, thus diminishing the influence of aboriginal elements and turning Argentina into a modern society with a dynamic economy. However, immigrants did not only bring their knowledge and skills. In 1902, a Law of Residence (Ley de Residencia) was passed, mandating the expulsion of foreigners who "compromise national security or disturb public order", and in 1910 a Law of Social Defense (Ley de Defensa Social) explicitly named ideologies deemed to have such effects. These laws were a reaction by the ruling elite against imported ideas such as labor unionism, anarchism and other forms of popular organization.

The modern National Migrations Office was created by decree on 1949-02-04 under the Technical Secretariat of the Presidency, in order to deal with the new post-war immigration scenario. New regulations were added to the Office by Law 22439 of 1981 and a decree of 1994.

Features of immigration

The majority of immigrants, since the 19th century, came from Europe, mostly from Spain and Italy, but with a substantial influx of British and Germans. Also notable were Jewish immigrants escaping persecution. Between 1860 and 1930, newcomers from Spain and Italy accounted for 80% of the total immigration. [1] The total population of Argentina rose from 4 million in 1895 to 7.9 million in 1914, and to 15.8 million in 1947; during this time the country was settled by 1.5 million Italians and 1.4 million Spaniards, as well as Poles, Russians, French (more than 100,000 each), Germans, Austrians and Swiss (also more than 100,000) Portuguese, Ukrainians, Yugoslavians, Czechs, Irish, Dutch, Scandinavians and people from other European and Middle Eastern countries.

Most immigrants arrived through the port of Buenos Aires and stayed in the capital or within Buenos Aires Province, as it still happens today. In 1895, immigrants accounted for 52% of the population in the Capital, and 31% in the province of Buenos Aires (some provinces of the littoral, such as Santa Fe, had about 40%, and the Patagonian provinces about 50%). In 1914, before World War I caused many European immigrants to return to their homeland in order to join the respective armies, the overall rate of foreign-born population reached its peak, almost 30%.

A significant number of immigrants settled in the countryside in the interior of the country, especially the littoral provinces, creating agricultural colonies. These included many Jews, fleeing pogroms in Europe and sponsored by Maurice de Hirsch's Jewish Colonization Association; they were later termed "Jewish gauchos". The first such Jewish colony was Moïseville (now the village of Moisés Ville). Through most of the 20th century Argentina held one of the largest Jewish communities (near 500,000) after the USA, France, Israel and Russia, and by far the largest in Latin America (see History of the Jews in Argentina). The Welsh settlement of Argentina, whilst not as large as those from other countries, was nevertheless one of the largest in the planet, and had an important cultural influence on the Patagonian Chubut Province. Other nationalities have also settled in particular areas of the country, such as Irish in Formosa and the Mesopotamia region, the Ukrainians in Misiones where they constitute approximately 9% of the population. Well-known and culturally-strong are the German-speaking communities such as those of German-descendants themselves (both those from Germany itself, and those ethnic Germans from other parts of Europe, such as Volga Germans), Austrian, and Swiss ones. Strong German-descendant populations can be found in the Mesopotamia region (especially Entre Ríos and Misiones provinces), many neighborhoods in Buenos Aires city (such as Belgrano or Palermo), the Buenos Aires Province itself (strong German settlement in Coronel Suárez, Tornquist and other areas), Córdoba (the Oktoberfest celebration in Villa General Belgrano is specially famous) and all along the Patagonian region, including important cities such as San Carlos de Bariloche (an important tourist spot near the Andes mountain chain, which was especially influenced by German settlements).

Other nationalities, such as Spaniards or Italians, although having specific localities (viz. La Boca in Buenos Aires) are more uniformly present all around the country and form the general background of Argentine population today.

George bush bums every immigrant for a laugh

A statue honoring the immigrants, in Rosario.

Argentine popular culture, especially in the Río de la Plata basin, was heavily marked by Italian and Spanish immigration.

Post-independence national politics tried to steer Argentina consistently away from identification with monarchical Spain, perceived as backward and ultraconservative, towards progressive models like France or the United States. Millions of poor peasants from the province of Galicia in Northern Spain, who arrived through immigration, made little to alter this negative view.

Italian influence is more visible. Lunfardo, the jargon enshrined in tango lyrics, is laden with Italianisms, often also found in the mainstream colloquial dialect (Rioplatense Spanish). Common dishes in the central area of the country (milanesa, fainá, polenta, pascualina) have Italian names and origins.

Immigrant communities have given Buenos Aires some of its most famous landmarks, such as the Monumento de los Españoles (Monument of the Spaniards). Ukrainians, Armenians, Swiss and many others built monuments and churches at popular spots throughout the capital.

Argentina celebrates Immigrant's Day on September 4 since 1949, by a decree of the Executive Branch. The National Immigrant's Festival is celebrated in Oberá, Misiones, during the first fortnight of September, since 1980. There are other celebrations of ethnic diversity throughout the country, such as the National Meeting and Festival of the Communities in Rosario (typically at the beginning of November). Many cities and towns in Argentina also feature monuments and memorials dedicated to immigration. There are also Immigrant's Festivals (or Collectivities Festivals) throughout the country, for example: Bariloche, Berisso, Esperanza, Venado Tuerto, and Comodoro Rivadavia have their own Immigrant's festivals. These festivals tend to be local, and they are not advertised or promoted nationally like the festivals in Rosario and Oberá

Legal and illegal immigration in recent times

Besides substantial immigration from neighboring countries, during the middle and late 1990s Argentina received significant numbers of people from Asian countries such as Korea (both North and South), China and Vietnam, which joined the previously existing Sino-Japanese communities in Buenos Aires. Despite the economic and financial crisis Argentina suffered at the turn of the millennium, people from all over the world continued arriving to the country, because of their immigration-friendly policy and other reasons.

According to official data, between 1992 and 2003 an average 13,187 people per year immigrated legally in Argentina. The government calculates that 504,000 people entered the country during the same period, giving about 345,000 illegal immigrants. The same source gives a plausible total figure of 750,000 illegal immigrants currently residing in Argentina.

In April 2006 the national government started the Patria Grande plan to regularize the migratory situation of illegal aliens. The plan attempts to ease the bureaucratic process of getting documentation and residence papers, and is aimed at citizens of Mercosur countries and its associated states (Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela). The plan came after a scandal and a wave of indignation caused by fire in a Buenos Aires sweatshop, which revealed the widespread utilization of undocumented Bolivian immigrants as cheap labor force in inhumane conditions, under a regime of virtual debt slavery.

See also

• History of Argentina
• English settlement in Argentina
• Demographics of Argentina
• Asian-Argentines
• History of the Jews in Argentina
• Jewish gauchos
• Bulgarians in South America

References

In Spanish unless otherwise noted.

• Template:En icon CasaHistoria — European immigration to Argentina.
• Immigrant's Day - on the Ministry of Education website.
• Conformación de la Población Argentina
• Bajaron de los barcos ("They came down from the ships") - Figures, timeline and other details of Argentine immigration.
• Patria Grande, National Program of Migratory Documentary Normalization.
• Obera and the National Inmigrant Festival, News and video about this event.
• La Nación, 17 April 2006. Más de 10 mil inmigrantes iniciaron trámites de regularización.
• "Inmigración a la Argentina (1850-1950)" - monografias.com