Today's migrants are just like your immigrant great-grandparents
February 7, 2025
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21:25Now PlayingToday's migrants are just like your immigrant great-grandparents
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as posted by the channelNearly 40 percent of Americans have at least one ancestor who entered the U.S. through Ellis Island. However, today's migrants may be shut out and deported, a humanitarian tragedy that would profoundly damage the U.S. economy.
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Allowing people to freely migrate to the U.S. was the policy for most of American history. Then came the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the racist quotas of the Immigration Act of 1924, and the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Is that the America that Trump wants to bring back?
Today, about 40 percent of Americans can trace their ancestry to Ellis Island. That's what made the U.S. so prosperous. And we need a lot more immigration if it's going to stay that way.
It was once a radical idea to suggest that black people, gay people, or women should have the freedom to live and work anywhere. Someday, I hope we can take for granted that someone born in Haiti, Venezuela, Mexico, or any other country should have all the same freedoms as a native-born American.
Photo CreditsView Amazon Jungle Drone Trees_By_Alejandro_Campollo_Artlist; Drone Trees Rainforest View_By_Alejandro_Campollo_Artlist; Drought Smoke Florida Drone_By_Day's_Edge_Productions_Artlist; Mauricio Valenzuela/dpa/picturealliance/Newscom; Mauricio Duenas Castaneda/EFE/Newscom; Mauricio Valenzuela / Xinhua News Agency/Newscom; Immigrants arriving at Ellis Island, New York, 1907 Shorpy.com; Immigrant Children, Ellis Island, 1908, New York Shorpy.com; PAT BENIC/UPI/Newscom; Carlos A. Moreno/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; Qian Weizhong/VCG/Newscom; Carlos A. Moreno/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; U.S. Customs and Border/ MEGA / Newscom/CJMAR/Newscom; Luiz C. Ribeiro/TNS/Newscom; Cristina Matuozzi/Sipa USA/Newscom; United States Thomas A. Edison, Inc., 1903 Library of Congress.
Music Credits: High Flight Michele Nobler - Artlist; Chance Encounter Gavin Luke - Epidemic Sound; Don't Lose Your Grip Diamonds And Ice - Artlist; Fun While It Lasted Emil Axelsson - Epidemic Sound; A Second To Forget Emily Rubye - Epidemic Sound; Progressive Progress Howard Harper-Barnes - Epidemic Sound; Rewinding Memories Ecobel - Epidemic Sound; The Depths Marten Moses - Epidemic Sound.
Producer: Antonella Marty
Producer: César Báez
Audio Production: Ian Keyser
Post-Production: Cody Huff
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