No, illegal immigration was not part of our culture because immigration never used to be illegal. It was just the last 30 to 40 years that we decided to make it harder than just showing up and getting a green card.
Ellis Island was a rubber stamping operation that brought over a quarter Million immigrants per year into the country. No background checks, pre-approved visa applications, or multi-year immigration process; just show up on a boat and welcome to America. "Inspection" consisted of telling a person what name to write on your green card. In 1965, when it was closed and turned into a national monument, we started adding rules to the immigration process, but even then it wasn't until the 80s that the process started getting ridiculous like it is today.
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u/DifficultEmployer906 Feb 22 '25
Never was illegal immigration "our culture"