Wisconsin Immigration Movement

To continue, once the immigrants reached port, they had to decide where they were going to settle in the United States. Some already had a destination in mind, but those who did not, were often influenced by nationality and religion in a specific settlement. Many German immigrants chose to settle in the Wisconsin region. There were a variety of religions that were brought to the Wisconsin area due to immigration, including Amish and other Anabaptist religions, but the most common religions among German immigrants were Lutherans, Catholics, and the Reformed Lutherans. When the priests and clergy of a religion immigrated to the United States, they set up Synods with other immigrants of the same religion. As more people immigrated they would often …show more content…
State governments had various pamphlets, books, and advertisements to draw immigrants to their State. Wisconsin was the first state to have a commissioner of immigration, who was responsible for attracting and guiding immigrants to Wisconsin. The rules and regulations on immigration were also less harsh than they are today. This difference is due to the amount of land that the United States government was trying to develop in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, as well as the lack of strength behind the nativism movement at the time as compared to the movement today. In the eighteenth and nineteenth century there was a nativism movement that disliked the mass immigration of foreign born people. This is similar to the sentiments that were expressed during the 2016 election against illegal immigrants. Next, gaining citizenship was much easier, because an oath of citizenship was the only requirement, and becoming a citizen of a state was at times even easier. Migration today requires more paperwork, bureaucracy, and in general is much more difficult. The vetting process for visas, green cards, and citizenship can take months, if not years, and changing policies and administrations can make this process take even longer. Part of the shift to more bureaucracy is because the federal government did not have many policies regarding immigration and the background checks done at the inlets, like Ellis Island, were less thorough than they are today. Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) has also been spreading a wider net for illegal immigrants that come across the border from Mexico, Central America, and Canada (Gomez). In the past, a person’s religion did not affect his or her ability to enter the country. Whereas today, President Donald Trump has made attempts to put a ban on Muslim immigration into the United States.