The Washington Post - USA (2021-10-26)

C8 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.TUESDAY, OCTOBER 26 , 2021

BY MARYLOU TOUSIGNANT

T

hursday is not an official U.S.

holiday, but maybe it should be,

beca use it’s National Immi-

grants Day. An immigrant is

someone who comes to a coun-

try to live there, usually permanently.

The United States prides itself on be-

ing a land of immigrants. Some of the

most stirring and often-quoted words in

our nation’s history are written in bronze

at the Statue of Liberty in New York

Harbor, which has welcomed millions of

immigrants to this country:

Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to

breathe free...

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

The United States has more immi-

grants than any other nation — about

45 million, or nearly 14 percent of the

population, according to the Pew Re-

search Center. If you or your parents are

not among them, chances are you don’t

have to look far back on your family tree

to discover which of your ancestors made

the daring decision to leave their home-

land and start a new life here.

Scientists have widely debated when

and how the first people arrived in North

America. A recent report on footprints

discovered in New Mexico suggests that

humans might have lived here at least

21,000 years ago. It’s not known whether

they came from Asia on a land bridge or

from elsewhere by sea. But wherever they

came from, they were our first immi-

grants.

European explorations of the New

World in the 16th century started the

“modern” era of immigration in what is

now the United States. English, Spanish,

Dutch, French and other people came for

many reasons, including religious and

political freedom and the hope of a better

life. Some were forced: Enslaved people

from West Africa were brought to the

American colonies in chains, starting in

1619. More than 450,000 Africans be-

came immigrants this way, although at

the time they were considered property.

The 19th century had large waves of

newcomers. Germans headed for the cit-

ies and farms of the Midwest. Irish, facing

starvation at home, descended on the

East Coast, accounting for nearly half of

all U.S. immigrants in the 1840s. Asians,

the majority of whom were Chinese, were

lured to California by news of the discov-

ery of gold in 1848. In the late 1800s,

Central and Southern Europeans began

streaming in, along with 2 million Jews

fleeing oppression in Eastern Europe.

About three-fourths of these immi-

grants arrived by ship in New York. As

their numbers swelled, a large processing

center opened on Ellis Island in 1892.

More than 12 million immigrants passed

through it before it closed in 1954. Forty

percent of Americans can trace at least

one ancestor to Ellis Island, according to

the National Park Service, which manag-

es the popular tourist site.

A 1908 play popularized the term

“melting pot” to describe how the blend-

ing of nationalities, customs and beliefs

made the United States stronger. Not

everyone agreed, and racial and social

tensions often flared. If they found work

at all, immigrants usually were paid less.

New taxes and literacy (reading and

writing) tests were imposed.

Most significantly, new laws limited

overall immigration while favoring cer-

tain countries. Immigration by Chinese

workers, for example, was put on hold in

1882, and those already here were denied

citizenship. This lasted until 1943.

About 1 million immigrants now arrive

in the United States each year. In addi-

tion, large numbers of would-be immi-

grants from Central America and Mexico

— many of them children traveling on

their own — have gathered on the South-

ern border. Polls show that Americans

think immigration is good for the coun-

try, but the heated debate over who can

and should be granted entry continues.

[email protected]

National Immigrants Day:

Celebrating U.S. ‘melting pot’

CHIP SAYS

Nearly half of all immigrants live

in three states: California, Texas

and Florida. California alone has

about 10.6 million immigrants.

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TODAY

Mostly cloudy and windy conditions

rule the day, a s hower is possible,

and highs reach the low 60s.

ILLUSTRATION BY CLAIRE BRAILEY, 11, SEATTLE, WASHINGTON

Immigrants: A closer look

Currently in the U.S. About 45 million

Here legally 77 percent

Have become U.S.

citizens

45 percent

Speak English well

(ages 5 and older)

53 percent

Expected population

by 2065

78 million

Top country

of origin

Mexico (25 percent

of all immigrants as

of 2018)

Top region

of origin

Asia (28 percent of

all immigrants as of

2018)

Source: Pew Research Center, 2020.

Numbers are the most recent available.

THE WASHINGTON POST

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

SARAH L. VOISIN/THE WASHINGTON POST

TOP: Immigrants a rrive in 1902 a t Ellis Island in New York. ABOVE: F alls

Church resident Maissa Mohamed, originally from Sudan, becomes a U.S. citizen

at a ceremony last July 4. The U nited States has more immigrants than any other

nation, according to t he Pew Research Center. “ Modern-era” E uropean

immigrants often moved to the United States for r eligious and political freedoms.