The Myth of Ellis Island

I have tried many times to find my ancestors path to the USA . My Mothers family came from Finland before there was a country of Finland. It was frustrating to find that many trails didn’t even acknowledge the existence of Finland before 1914.

We were always told my father Jumped ship to come to  the USA.  I know when I was a teen that my father was a resident alien at that point and had his Green card. But between 1940s when he met my mother and 1970s was he always. Was he Documented before he met my mother.

This post is not to just tell my family history. there are several myths about the immigrants to the USA  our ancestor.

The first is all immigrants to the USA from Europe after 1776 came through Ellis island. 1. The federal Government did not even regulate immigration before 1875 2.The Immigration Station at Ellis island did not even exist until 1892. 3. there were more than 100 other immigration stations in the USA in other states.

the second was that we all who can from Europe did it legally. In reality the USA did not have requirements for documentation before   In 1924, the McCarren-Walter Act, The only regulation was the ban on Chinese Immigrants. after that the Europeans were restricted even more and more. and with each restriction came more Illegal Europeans, Yes Europeans.

“IPC has made several key observations :
Many of our ancestors would not have qualified under today’s immigration laws. Today’s requirements.
Until the late 19th century, there was very little federal regulation of immigration—there were virtually no laws to break.
Before the 20th century, there was virtually no bureaucracy responsible for enforcing immigration laws.
Prior to the 1920s, there were no numerical limitations on immigration to the U.S., but certain persons were banned from entering.
The first numerical caps on immigration and limitations on Europeans were not established until the 1920s – after the great wave of immigration to the U.S.
Every restriction generated illegal immigration.
Many European immigrants benefited from amnesties. “
http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/issues/history