Immigration Then and Now

By: Frank Burkett

Immigration is a huge reason America became the greatest Nation of all time. Those immigrants that came here in the17th, 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries came here to make a better life or get away from oppressive governments. Some immigrants came because of both. No such thing as illegal immigrants then.

If you could make that dangerous trip on a sailboat or crowded sweat laden steamship across the Atlantic or Pacific Oceans and reach the shores of the U.S., you were welcomed to our country. Of course, West of the Mississippi wasn’t explored or was even part of the Colonies yet. It took a Revolutionary War which was won by a tattered Continental Army led by General George Washington.
George’s only military training before James Madison selected him as the leader of the Continental Army was a twenty-year prior interlude with the British Forces. But his Army along with allied forces defeated Great Britain’s disciplined and well-equipped elite troops. As was noted we didn’t do it all by ourselves though, because we had help from France financially and militarily, plus Hessian soldiers supplied Germany. Many of those soldiers stayed here, especially Hessian. Actually, that was in the planning by some Hessian men.

Many immigrants that graced our shores prior and during the Revolutionary War were welcomed and then on July 4th 1776 the 2nd Continental Congress declared our independence. At that, all of the populace became citizens of the United States of America. The new young nation needed more immigrants for labor, and reproduction to populate our emerging Republic.

Much later in 1892 Ellis Island was built. The location was between the states of New York and New Jersey, in an area of 27.5 acres. This next statistic should surprise all of you. Between 1892 through 1954, almost 12 million immigrants arrived and were processed under our federal laws. This amounted to 193, 550 annually.

Fast forward to the present and compare that statistic to the Southern borders of TX, NM, and CA at their ports of entry. Joe Biden became president in 2021, and during that year and the preceding two years, we have had an influx of a modest guess of 5,200,000 illegal immigrants. And are still coming over the border in the hundreds of thousands a month. Many of those millions are not processed at all. Most are just turned loose in the U.S. and ordered to report to immigration authorities at a future date but are never heard of again.

Our news produced by newscasters and journalists of yesteryear would be camped at our Southern border reporting what was happening. Today 90% of the news outlets have their heads buried in the sand. Do I know that for sure? I do watch, read local newsprint and listen to world news media on CBS, NBC, MSNBC, CNN, and FOX. Our border invasion with dope peddlers, known terrorist and other miscreants are only reported by one of those outlets.

Wake up America.