Resources by Subject: Immigration Experience
The Immigration Experience in the United States
Migration, both legal and illegal, to the United States has taken place for more than 300 years. This project will explore aspects of emigration during different time periods including: the push motivating people to move to the United States and the resistance and challenges faced.
__________________________________________________
Databases You Might Find Helpful:
User ID: spry ; Password: spry
Library of Congress:
Immigration & Relocation in U.S. History (website)
The history of the United States has always been shaped by peoples and communities who came to its shores or moved within its borders. Some sought a better life, some fled oppression, and some were moved against their will. This presentation uses Library of Congress primary sources to explore moments and experiences from several of these communities.Explore the immigration experience of various ethnic groups:
- African
- Chinese
- German
- Irish
- Italian
- Japanese
- Mexican
- Native American
- Polish/Russian
- Puerto Rican/Cuban
- Scandinavian
- Global Timeline
The Asian Experience
See Also : Angel Island
The Chinese Experience in 19th Century America (website)
Chinese Immigration (website)
Why did Chinese come to America? (website)
Chinese Immigration to America (website)
Library of Congress article Chinese Immigration (website)
America's Other Immigrant Isle (Encyclopedia article) - World Book Online
The Development of U.S. Immigration Law from the 1770s through the 1950s (magazine article)- Gale database article
Europe
Eastern European Experience
Jewish Immigration from Eastern Europe
Second Wave of Immigration,1880-1921 (website)-Global Boston
Jewish Immigration History (website)
From Haven to Home: 350 Years of Jewish Life in America, A Century of Immigration, 1820-1924 (website) Library of Congress Exhibits
The Italian Experience
Library of Congress (website)-the experience of Italians who arrived in America 
Italian Americans (website)
Immigration : Pre-Colonial to 1850
Immigration before 1965 (website) - History.com
Call For Tolerance (website)- Library of Congress
Jewish Immigration During the American Revolution - (website) TeachingHistory.org
Migration to America in the 1,700s (website) -Ancestry.com
The Swedes (website) - Library of Congress
The Irish Experience
Library of Congress (website) Irish immigration to America
PBS Destination America (website) 
Irish Immigration to America (website)
When America Despised the Irish: The 19th Century's Refugee Crisis (website) History.com (updated June 1, 2023)
Famine Coffin Ships (website)- a difficult journey
Lost at Sea (website)
The Irish Potato Famine (website)- Life in America
Push and Pull Factors (website) -Ellis Island (NPS)
- THe Irish Immigrant Experience(Magazine:Article) Gale OneFile U.S. History database
Ports of Entry
Port of Entry: (POE) is a place to legally enter a nation. International airports are usually ports of entry, as are road and rail crossings on a land border, and major seaports. U.S. Customs and Border Protection enforces the import and export regulations and immigration programs of the U.S. government.
Angel Island
(website)
Watch the 5 minute video, read the 15 minute story
Virtual exhibits, Guided Tour, 3D explorer!
History of Angel Island Immigration Station (website)
From 1910 to 1940, the Angel Island Immigration Station in California functioned as a Detention Center for people immigrating to the United States the the West Coast. Many of the people that passed through Angel Island came from Asian but also South America, Russia, Mexico, Australia, and Canada.
Ellis Island
(website)
Ellis Island: Overview and History (website)
Prior to 1890, individual states, rather than the Federal Government, regulated immigration into the United States...Around 1890...the Federal government [started constructing] a new immigration station to Ellis Island.
Opening in 1892 Ellis Island] saw more than 12 million immigrants in its 62 year history.
-
Interactive Tour (website)
-
Ellis Island 360 (website)
South American & Central American Experience
History of Mexican Immigration to the U.S. (website)
From Germany to Mexico (website)- great maps showing changes in where immigrants came from
Mexican Immigration (website)
The United States & World War II
Safe Haven (website) in Oswego was the only World War II Refugee Shelter in the United States
The Safe Haven Holocaust Refugee Shelter Museum is dedicated to keeping alive the stories of the 982 refugees from
World War II who were allowed into the United States as "guests" of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. These refugees were housed at Fort Ontario in Oswego, New York, from August 1944 until February 1946.
They Fled to an Internment Camp (Magazine article)- Gale Onefile: 7/21/2003- New York Times article
They Were the Lucky Ones (Magazine article) -Gale Onefile: 9/13/2020 New York Times
Safe Haven Holocaust Refugee Museum (website)
Japanese Internment
Japanese Internment Camps (website) - The History Channel
Japanese internment camps were established during World War II by President Franklin D. Roosevelt through his Executive Order 9066. (websites)
Japanese-American Incarceration During World War II (website) - National Archives.gov
The history of Japanese-American Incarceration during World War II includes primary source documents including: the presidential executive order, photographs, and letters curated by the National Archives.
Local History Connection
POW Camps in New York (website)
There were 20 base camps, 28 branch camps, 3 hospitals, 1 ISU, 2 internment locations, and 5 cemeteries in NY.
Marion POW Camp (website)
Letchworth Park History - Lower Falls POW Camp (website)
German POWs on the American Homefront (website) - Smithsonian Magazine (9/13/2009)
POWs in the USA: 10 Surprising Facts About America's WW2 Prisoner of War Camp (website) - MilitaryHistoryNow
Trends in Immigration - Current Trends and Events
Key Facts About Refugees in the U.S. (website) - PEW Research (10.7.2019)
DACA
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals - (Magazine article) Gale in Contest Middle
5 Questions About DACA - (Website) NPR
Sudan
Sudan & South Sudan Refugee Movements: South Sudan (website)
Cuba
Crossing the Straits - (website) Library of Congress
Cuban Exiles in America - (website) PBS: The American Experience
Surge in Cuban Migration Continued through 2016 (website) - PEW Research (1/13/2017)
Syria
By the Numbers: Syrian Refugees Around the World - (Website) PBS Frontline
Museum Statement on Syrian Refugees - (website) United State Holocaust Memorial Museum (9/25/2015)
Syrian Immigrants in the United States - CAP Report 12/13/2016
Ukraine
Welcoming Ukrainian Nationals to the United States (website) - U.S. Dept. of State (U.S. Government)
U.S. admits 100,000 Ukrainians in 5 months, fulfilling Biden pledge (website) -CBS News - Updated 7/29/22
Afghan (Refugees and Immigrants)
How Temporary Immigration Status Has Affected Afghan Evacuees in the US (website) -
In 2021, the United States began one of its largest humanitarian evacuations in history (website) as it withdrew from Afghanistan.