Immigration Then & Now...Jeers to those who think it's the same.

 ICE hasm't done much for US Citizens. Well, they have sparked more conversations on what is right and what is wrong, albeit much is misinformation. Many who support the efforts of ICE insist that their grandparents came into this country "the right way" and why don't the undocumented do the same. Well, let's compare the difference between then and now. 

In 1928, the U.S. immigration system was radically simpler. Your grandparents arrived in an era when:

- There was no visa system like today. 

- There were no numerical caps  for Europeans. 

- There was no asylum system at all. 

- There were no work authorization rules. 

- There were no multi‑year court backlogs. 

- There were no sponsors required. 

- There were no bars on public benefits. 

- There was no credible fear screening. 

If you could get on a ship, pass a basic health inspection, and weren’t excluded for a narrow list of reasons (like being labeled “feebleminded” or having certain diseases), you were admitted.

That was the “legal process.” It was simple because the law was simple.

The system was explicitly designed to favor Europeans This isn’t an opinion — it’s the structure of the laws at the time. From the 1920s through the 1960s, U.S. immigration law:

- set huge quotas for Northern and Western Europe 
- set tiny quotas for Southern and Eastern Europe 
- set zero quotas for most of Asia 

- barred most non‑white immigrants entirely 

 Germany, the UK, Ireland, and Scandinavia had the largest quotas.  People from those countries could immigrate in large numbers with minimal barriers.

So yes — it was simpler for people from “white” countries because the law was written to make it simple for them.

 There was no such thing as “waiting in line” for asylum Asylum didn’t exist as a legal category until 1980. Your grandparents didn’t “wait in line” for asylum.  They didn’t need to prove persecution. They didn’t need to hire lawyers.  They didn’t need to attend court hearings.  They didn’t need to wait years for a decision.  They simply arrived and were processed.

 Today’s asylum seekers are navigating a system that didn’t exist in your grandparents’ time.

The U.S. closed the “easy” immigration pathways in the mid‑20th century**

Between 1924 and 1965, Congress passed laws that:

- imposed strict quotas 

- restricted immigration from most of the world 

- created racialized categories 

- limited who could enter legally 

 By 1965, the U.S. replaced the old quota system with a new one based on:

 - family ties 

- employment categories 

- country caps 

 This system is still in place today — and it’s extremely restrictive.

 For many people today, there is no legal line to get into.

 Today’s asylum seekers are using the only legal pathway available to them

When people say, “They should come legally like our grandparents did,” they’re imagining a system that no longer exists.

 Today:

- There is no Ellis Island. 

- There is no “show up and be admitted.” 

- There is no broad European‑style quota. 

- There is no simple path for low‑income migrants. 

- There is no visa category for “fleeing danger but not yet proven.” 

 For many modern migrants, asylum is the **only** legal doorway left.

And it is a doorway Congress created on purpose — to prevent the U.S. from turning away people fleeing persecution, as it did in the 1930s and 1940s.