United States is a country formed by Immigrants who came from all parts of the world. The history of migration is truly amazing, studying the routes that people from every corner of the globe have followed to reach their dream destination.
No country in the New World has such a fascinating history as ours of how immigrants started to reach our shores from every corner of the globe. For centuries, the dream for many escaping the hardship and poverty in their homeland has been to reach the United States of America, to enjoy freedom and prosperity.
Glancing through history there have been periods when waves of thousand and even millions of people risked their lives under precarious conditions to emigrate to the United States. The end of the nineteenth century was perhaps when the greatest exodus arrived from Europe, boats were full of emigrants leaving from European ports such as Amsterdam or further afield in eastern Europe from countries such as Russia, Ukraine, Romania, literally flooded the coasts of eastern North America. New York was the perfect destination. This is a part of history that occurred during the lifetime of many of our readers.
The Europeans from Spain were the first settlers to reach the coasts of Florida in 1492, and soon after the arrival of British, French and Portuguese led to widespread colonization. England shipped out their prisoners and petty thieves and settlements were set up on wasteland that did not belong to anyone.
The Native Indians who were the original owners of the Great Plains were forced to live in assigned regions and their numbers greatly reduced. Portugal was the first country to bring man labor into this country; black slaves were shipped from Africa to serve as forced labor and bought and sold as cattle.
If the East coast received new settlers from Europe the West Coast started to receive a steady stream of immigrants from Asia. San Francisco was the main port of entry for the Chinese or from the Islands of the Pacific and Hawaii were routes traveled by Japanese and from other countries in Asia.
Another important entry point is the southern border of the United States with Mexico. Latin Americans from Central America and Mexico staged a new wave of immigrants. The Spanish language took on a level of importance and the Southern states and Spanish dominated provinces eventually joined the United States of America.
The State of Texas flew flags belonging to several countries; Spanish, French, Mexican, and American. Louisiana on the other hand was settled by the French. With all these events, the U.S. borders and immigration laws suffered substantial changes: World War II and the invasion of Pearl Harbor brought considerable changes and restrictions; uprisings and tension along the Mexican border provoked a series of restrictions to legalize the entry of Hispanic workers and as the years progressed so did the laws get tougher.
In the late 1950”s Cuba became the spotlight and Fidel Castro created a communist government and a blockade was enforced by the U.S. Thousands and thousands of Cubans flocked to the U.S. escaping the conditions in their country, through different means, some via Canada or Europe and others directly to American soil however they could manage it.
We have outlined some of the principal routes and ports of entry favored by immigrants from different countries throughout the world. One of the most curious was known as “The Beast”. This railway crossed from the southern region of Mexico up to the border with the U.S. It was easily recognized by images of hundreds of men, women and children lying flat on the roof of the train. Immigrants from Central, South America and Mexico often travel on foot for hundreds of miles, risking their lives to cross the border via underground tunnels, or are blackmailed and charged exorbitant amounts of money to cross them over the border like herded cattle and then abandoned at their own risk.
It has never been easy to leave your familiar surroundings, even if they are dangerous or the situation creates additional difficulty to provide food and safety for your family . The United States of America is the safe haven for millions of immigrants who today can proudly call themselves American, in a land that offers them the opportunity to prosper, see their family grow and study and most important of all – FREEDOM.
An experienced attorney authorized to practice immigration law in Dallas, throughout Texas, can assure that your case moves forward as quickly as possible and is handled correctly.