My grandfather came from Norway in the early 1930s. He was walking home a few blocks from where we live, now when he was rounded up by the police along with a bunch of other suspicious looking characters. The Weyerhaeuser baby had been kidnapped. Because he still was not very good at speaking English they kept him locked up for two days before my grandmother was able to figure out what happened to him and get him released. It was not a pleasant experience for him, and he learned English very quickly after that.
Right. There’s no point at all of traveling half way around the world to a new country if you don’t intend to assimilate and take the most advantage of the many opportunities.
I think the old timers knew that. They were so happy to be out of their oppressive, poverty stricken, homeland that they wanted to make the most of their citizenship in the US.
America only asked that they assimilate and work to the best of their capabilities, so they would not be a burden to others.
Our grandparents had enough self-respect and pride to appreciate the honest rationale of that request and were happy to comply