Paired Texts > America's Shifting Views on Immigration

This informational text describes the tide of new immigrants to the United States from southern and eastern Europe and Asia from the mid-1800s to the 1920s, detailing the struggle they faced due to cultural differences and racism.

"The New Colossus" is a poem by Emma Lazarus that was published in 1883. It describes the millions of immigrants who came to America through the port of New York City at Ellis Island.

In "Jewish Refugees on the St. Louis," Jessica McBirney describes the experiences of Jewish refugees who were not allowed to disembark the St. Louis at their destination.

In "The Danger of a Single Story," Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie discusses the importance of not allowing one story to construct your understanding of the world.

During a 1924 congressional debate on immigration, a senator from South Carolina argued that we should "shut the door and breed up a pure, unadulterated American citizen."

In "Interview," the speaker shares their complicated experience of trying to find a sense of home.

In Excerpt from Solito, Javier Zamora recounts the days before his harrowing solo migration from El Salvador to California at just nine years old. Pair “America’s Shifting Views on Immigration” with Excerpt from Solito to provide background information on the United States’ changing attitudes about immigration and patterns of migration from Latin America. According to “America’s Shifting Views on Immigration,” how have U.S. attitudes toward Latin America shifted since the 1950s, and what are the primary reasons for that shift? Based on the article, what challenges might Javier’s parents, and later Javier himself, have faced during their separate migrations from El Salvador to the United States during the 1990s? Does Kubic’s evaluation of U.S. attitudes toward immigration still hold up, nearly a decade after “America’s Shifting Views on Immigration” was published? Why, or why not? How might Javier Zamora respond to Kubic’s assessment of Latin American migration across the southern U.S. border as described in paragraphs 34-40?