Immigration Yesterday and Today

My cultural history is a unique combination of Italian, Irish, and Lithuanian. On my mother’s side of the family my ancestors are primarily from Italy while on my father’s side of the family my ancestors are from Lithuania. My great grandmother on my father’s side came over from Lithuania in 1910 arriving by way of Ellis Island in New York. My great grandfather arrived through Ellis Island as well but at that time by great grandmother and grandfather did not know each other. My great grandfather had his named changed to Smith when he arrived in America. After proceeding through Ellis Island, he settled in South Boston where he met my great grandmother. They married and relocated to Charlestown, near Boston where many Polish and Lithuanian immigrants settled. Great Grandpa Smith worked in a bakery in North Station that made dog biscuits while Nana Smith was a housemaid. Nana Smith lived to be 98 years old. Most of my family still resides around Boston today, not leaving the place where my ancestors first experienced the American life.
While I was unable to find articles solely on immigrants from Lithuania, immigration as a whole is a controversial topic in current news. President Obama faces several issues concerning immigration in the United States and he plans to address the immigration system this coming year which will include looking for a way for illegal immigrants to become legal. With the economy ailing, many people believe Mr. Obama has other more pressing issues such as health care and energy proposals that need to take priority before immigration. Opponents to Mr. Obama, mainly Republicans are going to rally opposition focusing on Obama’s efforts to legalize unauthorized immigrant workers when so many American workers are unemployed. Roy Beck an executive director of NumbersUSA which is a group that favors reduced immigration states, “It just doesn’t seem rational that any political leader would say, let’s give millions of foreign workers permanent access to U.S. jobs when we have millions of Americans looking for jobs.” According Beck, Mr. Obama is going to face an explosion of opposition if he precedes with his immigration plans this year with the economy the way it is. Representative Luis V. Gutierrez, a Democrat from Chicago, has been on the roads most weekends since December speaking in places such as Hispanic churches to rally up support for Mr. Obama’s immigration plans. The article elaborates, “Mr. Gutierrez was in Philadelphia on Saturday at the Iglesia Internacional, a big Hispanic evangelical church in a former warehouse, the 17th meeting in a tour that has included cities as far flung as Providence, R.I.; Atlanta; Miami; and San Francisco. Greeted with cheers and amens by a full house of about 350 people, Mr. Gutierrez, shifting fluidly between Spanish and English, called for immigration policies to preserve family unity, the strategic theme of his campaign.” Hispanic immigrants are the most vulnerable because many illegal immigrants can easily gain access to the United States through the country’s border with Mexico if they have the money to be smuggled across. Immigration does need to be address. I believe that it is a good idea for Mr. Obama to deal with immigration because it as well impacts the economy. I am still divided on whether illegal immigrants should be legalized. Immigrants once legal would be able to participate in the economy by purchasing houses and paying taxes through legal paychecks; however, many immigrants are uneducated and could potentially drain programs that are designed to help struggling, out of work American citizens.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/09/us/politics/09immig.html?_r=1&hp