Country of Imigrants

Unless you are an American Indian or a descendant of one you are an immigrant in this country. If you are reading this article your origin is another country of the world outside the United Sates or you may be related to such a person. That makes you an immigrant.

An exception may be in the interpretation of the provision of the 14th Amendment to the constitution that states all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. ( Legal scholars are questioning if the citizenship clause in the 14th Amendment covers offspring of illegal aliens and other non-permanent residents). Read the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.

The Statue of Liberty was a gift of friendship from the people of France to the people of the United States and is a universal symbol of freedom and democracy. An engraving at the statue reads, "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest - to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Those "huddled masses" would pass through Ellis Island to start their journey and life in the United States.

Ellis Island is in the shadow of the statue.

My father made that journey. When he was a young boy he believed that the streets in America were paved with gold. He made up his mind early in life that he would go to America. He accomplished that dream in the year 1913.

My father's name was Nazzareno Gaetano Bagnato. He was born in Melicucca Reggio di Calabria, Italy in 1894. In 1913 at the age of 18 he immigrated to the U. S. He set sail on a ship named Principe de Piemonte. He departed from the port of Napoli. (Naples) and debarked at Ellis Island, NY to be processed before entering the United States of America. He married Mary Stewart and had 5 children whom in turn all had children of their own and they in turn had children of their own. At our last family reunion a head count indicated there were over 100 Bagnatos at the reunion. This is probably more information about my family than you ever needed to know.

Why then am I telling you all this detail of my father and his family? For several reasons:

1. To make a point - by passing through Ellis Island, a legal entry point to the United Sates, Nazzeraneo Bagnato took his first step in becoming a legal immigrant followed by becoming a citizen of the U. S. By law, his wife and then his children and his descents born in the U. S. became citizens of the U. S.

2. For many of you reading this article, by substituting Mr. Bagnato's name and information with yours, you could have written this scenario.

3. Another reason is to inform you that if you or one of your parents immigrated to the U. S. through Ellis island, there is a website named Ellis Island Records that provides records of their immigration to the U. S. If you avail yourself of this resource be aware that the records are known to contain errors. For Example: My father's first name is Nazzareno. He is mistakenly listed in the Ellis Island Records as Gaetano Bagnato. His middle name was used in the official record. As a consequence, after spending a great deal of time his records were found. His home town and age were also listed incorrectly creating some doubt concerning the authenticity of the record until later when we verified the information from another source. Here are some of the records downloaded at the website.

In our modern day immigrants fall into two distinct classifications: Legal or Illegal. Legal immigrants enter the U. S. by observing the prevailing immigration and nationality laws. Illegal immigration refers to the act of foreign nationals voluntarily resettling in the United Sates in violation of U.S. immigration and nationality law.

There have always been illegal immigrants in the U. S. however this has not been a serious issue until recent years. Immigration laws were enforced and the number of illegal immigrants remained at a controllable level. Unfortunately the authorities responsible for controlling the flow of immigrants have not regularly or uniformly enforced the law. The consequence has been a dramatic increase in the number of illegal immigrants in the U. S. Depending on the source of the information the number can be anywhere between 7 to 12 million illegal immigrants. The main reasons that the immigration problem continues to worsen is that the authorities responsible did not take a more aggressive posture to enforce the prevailing laws and the government agencies and congress that have the authority to act and make the necessary changes to mitigate damages did not take the initiative to do so. We find ourselves in a position that the immigration "crisis" has become out of hand and a political football. Congress seems to be impotent to enact corrective legislation for fear of offending a large voting block or alienate the special interest groups on both sides of the problem. One of the results of this is that the individual states in an effort to cure the stem of increasing illegal immigration and reduce it's negative effects are taking the initiative on their own. Some of those initiatives may be part of the solution but the problem with this approach is it could result in having 50 sets of laws instead of a single federal solution. The economic, social and political aspects of immigration have caused controversy regarding race, ethnicity, religion, economic benefits, job growth, settlement patterns, impact on upward social mobility, level of criminality, political loyalties, moral values, and work habits. Certainly an issue with such impact on our country deserves more attention and immediate action than it is presently getting. The United States accepts more legal immigrants as permanent residents than the rest of the world combined.

In some quarters the illegal immigration problem is looked at as a Mexican problem. The Pew Hispanic Center states that 57% of illegal aliens are of Mexican origin and about 24% are of non-Mexican Latin American origin. They also report that while the number of legal immigrants (including refugees, and asylums) arriving has not varied substantially since the 1980s, the number of illegal aliens has increased dramatically and, since the mid 1990s, has surpassed the number of legal immigrants. See http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_immigration for detail statistics.

Illegal immigration has been a longstanding issue in the United States, creating immense controversy resulting in, on one hand, the citizenry bearing the burden and damages that are caused by illegal immigration and on the other hand the illegal immigrants being victimized by the hostility of those that resent their breaking the law to facilitate their entry or circumvent their undesirable characteristics that deny them entry into the country.

This "stagnation" in solving this important issue is so unfair to both the legal immigrants and illegal immigrants in this country. I live in a 500 home retirement community. Every Tuesday we are "invaded" with a group of 15 to 20 lawn maintenance workers, almost 100% being of Mexican origin. They start work early in the AM, work steadily through the day, do a good job and have no apparent negative effect on our community. It is totally unfair to brand this group as troublemakers or being illegal but the prevailing atmosphere has a tendency to cause some people to do that.

We hope and have a right to expect that the persons that have the responsibility for fixing the immigration problem act timely and responsibly in offering solutions and passing remedial legislation and also clarify which existing laws should be observed and enforced. We also hope and have the right to expect that those that have responsibility for law enforcement will continue to do a good job in seeing that the prevailing law is fairly and vigorously enforced.

The present condition of immigration law makes law enforcement, already a difficult job increasingly more difficult and dangerous than it is. The present condition of immigration also continues to place an unnecessarily heavy burden for the citizenry.

Passenger Record	Ship Manifest - written	Ship Manifest - printed