T.T. Munger

The number of immigrants arriving in the United States soared to unprecedented levels during the 1880s. A large majority of these new immigrants were from southern and eastern Europe, areas that had not sent many immigrants to America previously. Many Americans became alarmed at the large number of foreigners who were very different in dress, languages spoken, and culture from U.S. citizens who were white, Anglo-Saxon, and Protestant.

T.T. Munger, a priest who lived in New Haven, Connecticut at the end of the nineteenth century, believes that this new wave of immigrants is composed largely of beggars, criminals, and people otherwise physically, morally, and politically unfit to become Americans. In addition, many immigrants become insane during their trip due to the difficulty of the venture. Munger argues in the following viewpoint that Congress...