For 283 years, America was literally a sanctuary for debtors, criminals, poor people and theocratic groups.

[ancianita]

The US DOES have a VISA system.

Right now, today, this very minute, if corporate owners WANTED immigrants to be legal, all they'd have to do is end the current 5,000 quota of H-2B visas and make them unlimited.

But they want you redirected away from themselves and their below-living-wage systems.
Since Bush days, they've told you that immigrants are stealing your job of working in the hot sun in our farm fields and slaughterhouse industry, right?
They've wanted the middle and working class to hate and fear the vulnerable who need a better life here.

If you were born into safety by accident, why would you turn around and not care for those who are worse off than you?

HISTORICALLY, AMERICA HAS HAD OPEN ARMS FOR EVERYONE BECAUSE THE FOUNDERS SET UP OUR COUNTRY TO WELCOME PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD.

As Anand Giridharadas has often said, America is made of the world.

Almost all our ancestors were "illegal" at some point.
"Legal" is a construct, as in 'constructed by someone.' "Illegal immigrant" is a made up "problem." Like "race."
For 283 years, America was literally a sanctuary for debtors, criminals, poor people and theocratic groups.

When immigrant haters get that, they will FINALLY see what Ronald Reagan saw: "ILLEGAL" IS A CONSTRUCT.”
THAT is why Reagan gave permanent amnesty to over 3 million illegals back in his day.
Most Americans don't know that.
Republicans RESUSE to tell THAT truth about Reagan.

America's Founders had no legal immigration status or documents, did they.
No, they did not.

Early Americans "excepted" themselves as "legals" and made themselves "American."

Our Founders literally used the word "asylum" to describe America. Literally. I can quote the Founders.

For those 283 years, America promoted itself, built its culture, told and wrote some "founding stories" about itself around this "exceptionalism."

The first to hit this continent declared themselves legal! They became the exceptional Americans with no documentation!

Yes, for 283 years, undocumented immigrants excepted themselves as a founding people.

Our "Legal" immigration system, started in 1882, has always been a cockblock setup by the illegal immigrants who got here first. You know, the selfish kind.

That CORPORATE cockblock CONSTRUCT is based on money, racism, xenophobia and fear.
FEAR IS PROFITABLE.

Reagan knew that "legal immigration" was a construct. That's why he ruled to give complete amnesty to MILLIONS of undocumented immigrants.

We absolutely do not have to give up on being that country with that First Exceptionalism to entry.
Whether you like immigrants or not, remember two things:
Unless your ancestors were here before 1492, your ancestors were immigrants, whether they were 'documented' or not.
Since you come from immigrants, NO Americans or leaders have any "legal" business telling people to stay out.

Why? Because America was FOUNDED by the Founders on that second American Exceptionalism --
-- THE FREEDOM TO BE HERE.

IF AMERICANS HAVEN'T READ US HISTORY, OR EVEN THEIR BIBLE, THEY NEED TO GO BACK TO CLASS.

[Deep State Witch]

1. Legal vs Illegal Immigration

People claim that "my great-grandparents did it the legal way." Bullshit. You packed your shit, you booked passage on a ship bound for America, got off at Ellis Island, and got checked for any signs of diseases. Once passed, you went over to New York and made your way from there. Or your ancestors were already here, but the borders moved. It was only after the Chinese got the idea that THEY could come to America too that we decided that we were going to limit who came here.

America has a notorious history of discrimination against ethnic groups. The Germans, Irish, Italians, Eastern Europeans, Chinese, Japanese, and Jews were all kept out at some point. We weren't the "great melting pot" until after the Civil War, when we had lost enough men that we let THOSE people in to help recover from the war.

[ITAL]

2. The government did refuse some people in the waves of immigration

Last edited Wed Jun 11, 2025, 08:53 PM - Edit history (1)

But it was a tiny fraction of those that came.

But agreed the US was never particularly welcoming. Interestingly in the early to mid 19th century many southerners were far more accepting of the idea of immigrants from everywhere than northerners. Probably because the vast majority were settling in the north and competing for jobs, whereas in the south the farmers didn't really care.

[ancianita]

4. That's just a recent version of US history you've been presented with.

Read Jill Lepore's This America, which lays out all the founders' quotes about America being an asylum and sanctuary for all comers. She explains how we came up with concepts like "exceptionalism" and "nation state" and other terms that relate to immigration, along with the more accurate history of immigration.

The Immigration Act of 1924 was the culmination of racist culture that's been the original sin of this country (and other countries, too, though that doesn't excuse our current iteration of that sin of slavery and now racism).

[ancianita]

3. Absolutely!

Today's immigration is just racism's newest lingo -- both part of the smoke & mirrors prism of corporate fascism at work.

Thom Hartmann's Unequal Justice and his Hidden History series lay out the best history of corporations I've ever read. Highly recommended.

Thanks for your post.

[ultralite001]

5. Thank you for this great post...

It is good to reflect on how we arrived in this country...

Many have not had the luxury of having parents, grandparents,
aunts + uncles + cousins relate the tales of their arrival...

The hardships, oppression, depression, starvation, brutality,
poverty, illness, disruption, compromise, intolerance + so much
more that they endured, driving their journey, in blind faith, to this
country that once offered them such promise...

Each moment we fail to hold Trump + his minions to account, the
flame of Liberty that lit their way dims a bit more...