More on Immigration
With all the political upheaval over immigration this year it was more than just interesting to be at Ellis Island a couple weeks ago. If you are not aware, Ellis Island was the entry point for millions of immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.

My grandparents came that way just 100 years ago fleeing the dangers of the pogroms in Russia. We are without a doubt a nation of immigrants.

(Only the Native American can claim to have lived here long enough to be truly native to this land.)

Our ancestors came for the same reasons as immigrants come today. Our ancestors sought the same safety and asylum and hope and work and sense of dignity that are sought so deeply today. They became Americans, although they kept a strong sense of connection to their ethnic roots. These pictures from Norwegians in Minnesota (left) and

Germans in Watertown, Wisconsin (right) show the mixed feelings that have always existed.

(As recently as 20 years ago there was still a church in Watertown that had a German language worship one Sunday afternoon a month.)

What they saw when they looked out the window of Ellis Island we still see today, Lady Liberty lifting her lamp beside the golden door. It is incredible to think what people went through just to get here. (And I complain about the lines at the airport to keep me safe.)

May we never lose our ability to be a nation of asylum, safety and liberty!

(All pictures taken at Ellis Island by pmPilgrim, 10/06)