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In the past, immigrants to the United States were offered little more than "opportunity," yet they came in waves and, by and large, altered the fabric of America for the better.
I came to America because I heard the streets were paved with gold. When I got here I found out three things: first, the streets were not paved with gold, second, they were not paved at all, and third, that I was expected to pave them.
- An immigrant whose words are posted at the Ellis Island Museum
While it can be said that immigration started with the arrival of the first European settlers at St. Augustine, Jamestown, New Amsterdam, and Plymouth, it was not until the 19th century that immigration to the United States occurred on a scale large enough to provoke concern among our nation's earlier residents.
The story of the immigrants coming through Ellis Island (from 1892 until 1954) has become a much-cherished saga, especially for the 40 percent of all Americans (150 million) who have at least one ancestor who came through that station.
It can easily be demonstrated that the growth of the United States into a major world power during the 1800s depended on attaining a population sufficient to build its roads, railroads, and canals; operate its newly developed factories; and bring its armies up to world-class strength. However, by the early 20th century, just as today, great differences of opinion existed about just how many immigrants our nation could absorb without negatively impacting its job market and radically changing its existing culture. Consequently, not all Americans welcomed all immigrants.
While it is a nation's right (even obligation) to limit immigration to numerical levels that the nation can absorb, both economically and socially, there is little doubt that the Immigration Act of 1924 (the Johnson-Reed Act), like the Emergency Quota Act of 1921, was passed specifically to restrict the number of Eastern European Jews, Italians, Poles, Greeks, and other nationalities that the bill's authors regarded as "undesirable." Both limited the annual number of immigrants who could be admitted from any country to a percentage (three percent of the 1910 census in the 1921 act, two percent of the 1890 census in the 1924 act) of the number...