I recently met this year's Gilder Lehrman Cold War History research fellow Martin Nekola, who studies the immigration wave few talk about - the 400,000 people who came here between 1948 and 1955 from the Displaced Persons Camps in war-ravaged Europe. Most were destitute and poorly educated, their villages first burned by Germans and then taken over by the Soviets. Integrating them in the U.S., then a country of 150 million, was not easy - not for them and not for the country. Yet they thrived, even helping start new industries like biotechnology and integrated circuit manufacturing.
Half a century before, the U.S. faced a bigger challenge: 1.5 million people arrived in 1902 and 1903, when the country's population was only 80 million! Most were from Southern and Eastern Europe and their illiteracy - and perceived lack of "history" - prompted formation of the Immigration Restriction League. The Mayor of New York William Williams even remarked "… although they may be able to earn a living, yet are not wanted, will be of no benefit to the country, and will, on the contrary, be a detriment, because their presence will tend to lower our standards." Some of you are their descendants, and, no doubt, are chuckling at Mayor Williams' lack of foresight!
As 80 and 120 years ago, helping immigrants integrate will ultimately help them create a better life and contribute to our future. Multiple organizations are attempting to help today at the local level, including HIAS - founded in 1881 as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. Its goal had grown to help every immigrant.
But beyond the physical and financial help, it is imperative that we take every opportunity to articulate to new Americans our principle of individual freedom.
The best thing we can do is explain who we are, the upside of being like us, and what it takes to be like us.
"Cults don't end well. They really don't."
