Have you ever heard someone say that the United States is a country of immigrants? It may sound like a simple cliche, something you’d learn in school when studying American history. In reality, though, it’s just a fact. The current United States was founded on immigration, and almost every single person living here is either an immigrant or the descendant of an immigrant.
Today, we often think of immigration as something that applies to those from Asia or Latin America. However, it’s important to realize that those are just areas where a lot of modern immigration comes from. Over the years, you can find immigration trends that impact very different parts of the globe.
In the colonial era, of course, a lot of immigrants first came from England. Powers like England, France and Spain developed much of the country, and that’s where settlers came from. There was also a very heavy German population.
Fast forward to the 19th century and the 20th century, and you can find a lot more immigration from places like Eastern Europe, Ireland and Scandinavia. These are places that still send immigrants today, but they’re just not the focal points that they used to be.
So, while immigration in 2019 may focus largely on places like Latin America, you can see that the trends over time make immigration something that is very inclusive. It has drastically impacted nearly every family in the country at one time or another, and it continues to be a large part of how the country develops today.
Of course, policies and laws have changed drastically over time, so it’s important for modern immigrants to know what legal steps they’ll need to take.
