Monday, April 27, 2015
Ellis Island Museum to Update the Story of Immigration in America
David Dunlap of the New York Times offers a preview on upcoming new exhibits at the Ellis Island Immigration Museum. Next month, two new galleries will open.
According to the report, the new gallery will focus on modern migration to the United States, including migration from Mexico:
"Though the exhibition unabashedly celebrates the idea of arrival and naturalization, visitors expecting a sentimental view of the journey to the United States or a gauzy salute to American immigration policies will find some sharp rebukes. For instance, a panel titled `Feet People' says that until a half century ago, when caps were imposed, Mexican workers had routinely crossed into the United States to fill agricultural, construction and service jobs, because there were no immigration quotas on other independent nations in the Americas. . . . . Further, the panel notes, the Border Patrol `began militarizing the 2,000-mile United States-Mexico border and deporting any unauthorized immigrants' in 1993. `This fortification has pushed men, women and even children, who seek to cross on foot without documentation, even deeper into remote and dangerous terrain,' the panel continues. `They cross deserts and mountain ranges on foot and swim contaminated irrigation ditches. They crawl through sewer pipes and tunnels. To find work and reunite with family members, hundreds risk their lives every week to reach the United States.'”
KJ
https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/immigration/2015/04/ellis-island-museum-to-update-the-story-of-immigration-in-america.html
