The Untold Stories of Immigration

The podcast discusses the internal and external issues that immigrants have faced throughout their journeys of immigration. It highlights how immigrants have had to fight to be seen as American enough and the presence of nativism and xenophobia. The episode includes stories from different immigrants and their experiences in America. It also mentions the restrictions and reforms made to the immigration system, as well as the misconceptions and ignorance surrounding immigration in the United States. The podcast emphasizes the importance of understanding the history of immigration and learning from past mistakes. It concludes by emphasizing that America is founded on immigration and that pushback against newcomers is hypocritical considering that everyone's ancestors were once newcomers. Hello, fellow history nerds. My name is Abby Topchik, and this is Grace Stevens. Hi! Today we are going to discuss the internal and external issues that immigrants have had throughout their journeys of immigration. We have a few thoughts to introduce to y'all before we start giving the full stories. Yeah, so immigration is the foundation of the American identity, but immigrants have had to fight to be seen as American enough, as if they need to earn their keep in the United States. Every time there has been a new wave of immigrants that migrate to America, there has been a following of nativism and a lot of xenophobia. We have a great episode for you all today with many sources. Let's get into it! Yeah, let's do this! It's gonna be great. Have you heard of the U.S. being the largest melting pot? Figuratively. About the mixtures of cultures and races. Of course! But our listeners might not. Let's explain the whole story. Starting with the U.S. wasn't always this diverse. Immigration made it that way. Exactly. People from all over the world heard of America and freedom and liberty and chose to leave the life they knew for a new and hopefully better life. Yeah. John de Grevecourt, for example, he migrated from France to French Canada in 1755 and then to the U.S. in 1759. After his long journey, he wrote about the U.S. and the mixture of people. He had some things to say about. Huh? It's a metaphor for the people who immigrated or migrated and had a better life with more opportunity. Oh! Aaron Dominic also wrote about his journey around America and the immigration process. He states that on Ellis Island, officials sat who questioned each immigrant in his language. The new immigrant felt right at home. My line spoke Yiddish. Hence, a big strange country recognized my language that I had brought here with me from abroad as an official language. In Russia and Germany, I did not receive any such privilege. He felt welcome to the country and was excited to know his language was accepted. And not to mention, so many people were grateful because of the poll factors from the last country they had been a citizen of. Manuel Domingo interviewed a wealthy Mexican family who immigrated to the U.S. and states, The mother says that she likes life in the United States for the comfort that there is, the quietness, and because she finds less danger for her daughters. Here she goes with freedom to the grocery store, clothing store, or whatever it may be. Wow, he describes the emotions in such a beautiful way. It also just sounds like a mom thing to say. Right? It's very maternal. To want your children to have a better life than the one you have. Our next source is named Dina Neary. Dina Neary wrote a whole book on her experience being born in Iran and her family had to flee. She states, The way she describes her childhood breaks my heart. Seriously, I wish no one had to go through that pain and suffering, especially so early on. Knowing that she got a chance to have a better life in America makes me feel a little better though. Not everyone is willing to accept everybody into the United States. There are actually a lot of people who want to restrict the types of people who are allowed to come into the country. Including Donald Trump, who made reforms to the immigration system in 2016 and made a speech stating the reasons he believes it is for the betterment of the U.S. He mentioned how the United States Foundation was built on immigration and how we shouldn't deny that, but how that now we can choose who enters. He states that the reform, quote, builds upon our nation's rich history of immigration while strengthening the bonds of citizenship that binds us together as a national family, end quote. Yes, there were also many instances where not even all white people were welcome due to their economic statuses. And Congress had to make laws, obviously, to limit just anyone from entering and staying in America or becoming a citizen. Congress stated in the Naturalization Act, quote, that any alien being a free white person who shall have resided within the limits under the jurisdiction of the United States for the term of two years may be admitted to become a citizen, end quote. The American Party also made some rules including that only, quote, native-born citizens should be selected for all state, federal, and municipal offices, end quote, meaning only people born in the U.S. should be in government positions. And Frederick Douglass spoke on how the government was putting limits and how he disagreed with the laws being set, saying, quote, they would limit migratory rights or any other essential human rights to themselves and which would make them the owners of this great continent to the exclusion of all other races of men, end quote. So not everyone was willing to accept all of the, quote, aliens, but not everyone was against immigration. Exactly. The reason why some were against it was because of the belief that immigrants, especially illegal ones, brought more crime to the U.S. So, in their minds, without limits, crime would continue to grow. Herbert Block, a political artist, depicted this by drawing the Statue of Liberty in a position with her hand raised like a traffic director telling someone to stop. The image is a symbolic meaning of the hypocrisy in the U.S. as they tell others about democracy and at the same time restrict the lives of whoever they please. A huge issue a lot of people had as non-Americans was being asked if they were grateful or not. John Doyle wrote about these struggles, quote, great, sir. Are you not happy to have escaped from the irony of the old country? When you would deny the irony and give the preference to home, they would look amazed and say, what, sir, would you not live in a free country and in slavery, end quote. Americans were known, and still are, for being ignorant about global issues or the lack thereof, and they simply assume that the U.S. is superior to any other country. Talking about ignorance, we see a lot of people who do not understand that there is more than just the United States. Many people in America disregard life beyond the United States but also don't know anything beyond it. Americans often have this misconception that all immigrants are oppressed. Yeah, that is a popular theme that this country implies. We also see that people are uneducated as well. We see that a lot with immigration and the melting pot. Most Americans have always been equipped to their depictions of American culture and have not been exposed to cultures outside of the U.S. This has made things challenging for immigrants that migrate to the U.S. Sadly, there is a lot of xenophobia in the United States, even though this is a country of many cultures, home to people with many backgrounds. The whole point of immigration is so that people can move somewhere else that may be more safe or convenient for them, but that shouldn't mean that they should be forced to change their identity or their beliefs. There have always been cultural shocks in the United States because it is made up of a large population of immigrants. Right. American society has had a history of not accepting immigrants based on their race or economic status. Interestingly, even some groups of white people weren't accepted into the country because they weren't wealthy. Aliens will be judged by the president and he who will choose if they're dangerous and can be deported for any reason. After that huge process, one should be able to settle in and live as they see fit to make sure they want to stay in the community. Unfortunately, our time with our lovely listeners is coming to an end. I guess so. We do hope you have enjoyed listening to us talking about the history of our country. We love talking about immigration because of its origin stories in America. It is important to know the past and make sure we know how to go forward and not make the same mistakes as others. It is important for everyone to get rid of their ignorance, and I hope that if you were unsure of something, you learned a little bit from this podcast. Exactly. I love this subject just because of how divided the country was and continues to be. Not because I like conflicts, but because I think that it is what makes America great. We can all have our own opinions about a subject. Not to mention that the government itself has been divided. Let's just recap what our big point is for this podcast. Sure. America is founded off of immigration. Immigration isn't a steady number of people. It comes in waves. In every wave, there has been pushback on the people who are being allowed into America, also known as nativism and xenophobia. They believe that the newcomers pose a threat to their American identity, even though their ancestors were once the newcomers. Right. Alright, that's a wrap on this episode, History Nerds. We will see you next time. Bye! History Nerds