Most scientists believe that human beings first came to America over the Bering Straits about 20,000 years ago. These were the ancestors of the many Native American cultures, which would people the landscape for thousands of years. Around the year 1000, a small number of Vikings would arrive. Five-hundred years later, the great European migration would begin. Crossing the Atlantic meant two to three months of seasickness, overcrowding, limited food rations, and disease. But the lure of available land and the hope for political and religious freedoms kept the Europeans coming.

So, they came to America, “Land of the Free”, and people from Europe and all around the World are still coming today. The United States of America has embraced and welcomed immigration since its beginning. Between 1880 and 1930 over 27 million people entered the United States, but after the outbreak of World War I in 1914, American attitudes toward immigration began to shift. Nationalism and suspicion of foreigners were on the rise, and immigrants’ loyalties were often called into question. Through the early 1920s, a series of laws was passed to limit the flow of immigrants.

Between 1892 and 1955, nearly all immigrants came in to the United States through Ellis Island, the historic “gateway” to America. Those with visible health problems or diseases were sent home or held in the island’s hospital facilities for long periods of time. They were then asked 29 questions including name, occupation, and the amount of money they carried with them.

Generally, those immigrants who were approved spent from two to five hours at Ellis Island. However, more than three thousand would-be immigrants died on Ellis Island while being held in the hospital facilities. Some unskilled workers were rejected outright because they were considered likely to become a public charge. About two percent were denied admission to the U.S. and sent back to their countries of origin for reasons such as chronic contagious disease, criminal background, or insanity. Ellis Island was sometimes known as “The Island of Tears” or “Heartbreak Island” because of those two percent who were not admitted after the long transatlantic voyage.

Today, Ellis Island no longer processes people who want to immigrate to the United States, but the millions of immigrants who were processed through the Island still has their influence on America. Everyone in America understands how music influences our culture, our souls. No place on Earth understands the influence of music on our livers better than Chicagoans.

Chicago has given rise to many forms of music and is the birthplace of House Music, but did you know it is also the place where Jule Styne grew up and was educated? Styne became a famous American songwriter for his compositions contributed to Broadway and often revived to this day. He was championed by none other than Frank Sinatra who sung Styne’s hit single, “Saturday Night is the Loneliest Night of the Week.” He wrote many songs for the movie industry, and he was elected to the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame in 1972. Jule Styne immigrated from England to the United States and through Ellis Island in 1913.

Today’s immigration laws, like in the 1920s, are still designed to limit the flow of immigrants into the United States. They are much more complicated than they were in those early days of America, but there are still many ways a foreigner can immigrate to the United States, become a permanent resident, or become a citizen.

Maybe you have had or know someone who has had a difficult time immigrating to the United States, becoming a permanent resident, or a citizen. If you don’t understand our immigration laws, you want to learn how to immigrate, or you have a relative that wants to immigrate to the United States, you will need legal help to understand our immigration law.

Even if you already live here and just want to become a permanent resident or citizen, or have a relative that wants to become a permanent resident or citizen of the United States, contact us right now at www.immigrationlawstation.com, and we will help you find an immigration lawyer in your area who will answer any legal questions you may have about immigration law. Who knows, your relative, or a friend may be the next Jule Styne that influences America.