Illegal Immigration
By todays standards my great great great great great great....grandfather who came here from Ireland in the 1820s would be an illegal immigrant. There was little to no documentation. No forms to fill out. It is a wonder there was any record at all of his arrival. He paid his fare for the boat or maybe the British just pushed him onto the boat. History is unclear. He came here poor. He came here looking for a better life and a job. He did the labor no others would do at the time. Eventually he and his descendents headed west.
He did not have to stand in line at the consulate in Ireland to fill out forms. He did not have to put his name into a lottery that he might not even win. He didn't have to wait years for the chance to work here for 12 months. No one asked him his skills before he left. There was no skill requirement to get in. It isn't clear when or if he became a citizen of the U.S. in a formal sense. For all practical purposes he was an American. He left his homeland for good and settled here permanently. I don't know if he would have gone back if he had the opportunity or not. Such options were far far more difficult in those days.
People in the 1820s thought the Irish were the bane of all immigrants. There were calls to send em all back. Fortunately those calls were never headed. It just wasn't practical to do so. America was built on immigrants. It continues to be.
Our government today has no problem sending an American child's parent back to their country of origin, if their papers are not in order. Our government has no problem deporting the American children whose parents might not be formal citizens. It is outrageous. By such logic we all are illegals.
By todays standards, my ancestors were illegals. Please deport us to Ireland. Thank you.
He did not have to stand in line at the consulate in Ireland to fill out forms. He did not have to put his name into a lottery that he might not even win. He didn't have to wait years for the chance to work here for 12 months. No one asked him his skills before he left. There was no skill requirement to get in. It isn't clear when or if he became a citizen of the U.S. in a formal sense. For all practical purposes he was an American. He left his homeland for good and settled here permanently. I don't know if he would have gone back if he had the opportunity or not. Such options were far far more difficult in those days.
People in the 1820s thought the Irish were the bane of all immigrants. There were calls to send em all back. Fortunately those calls were never headed. It just wasn't practical to do so. America was built on immigrants. It continues to be.
Our government today has no problem sending an American child's parent back to their country of origin, if their papers are not in order. Our government has no problem deporting the American children whose parents might not be formal citizens. It is outrageous. By such logic we all are illegals.
By todays standards, my ancestors were illegals. Please deport us to Ireland. Thank you.
posted by Mahkno at 6:25 PM
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