An Ongoing Invasion
I heard media mogul and outspoken man Ted Turner on public radio the other day. He was talking about the invasion that is happening right now in the United States. They are invading by the millions. Many are barefoot, he said, and all they're looking for is a job.

Those words echoed in my head while walking through Ellis Island last week on a trip to New York. Ellis Island. My grandparents came through there exactly 100 years ago. We are a nation of immigrants who came here for many of the same reasons that people are risking life and limb to come today. Sometimes it is the disastrous living conditions. At other times it is political persecution. And still others it is to start over in a new place with many new opportunities.

Here are some pictures from some of the exhibits at Ellis Island. I am sure I will have more to say in the coming weeks.

It is easy to see why people would want to come out to this frozen land. It sure doesn't sound all that bad in this promotional poster. (I wonder if the grain froze early this year?)

It says a great deal about the desires and deep commitments to the new land when you look at the children. They want to look so serious and intensely American. It was who they wanted to be.

When they came, they brought everything they had.
And we complained when we had to stand in line at the airport to go through security. How our view of things have changed as we have gone through history.

Would I be willing to go through all this to get to a new and hopeful life? Every immigrant I have met has had to go through many obstacles. Many risk their lives. Would I? Let no one say that immigrants (of any ethnic background) have come here to be lazy and be taken care of.

Watch for more thoughts coming.

(All pictures taken at Ellis Island by pmPilgrim.)