Ben Cunningham, founder of the Nashville Tea Party, contrasted modern expectations of immigration with those of the early 1900s, noting that the 1921 Manual of the United States for the Information of Immigrants and Foreigners, emphasized firm expectations of assimilation rather than assurances of government support.
The 1921 Manual of the United States for the Information of Immigrants and Foreigners, published by the Daughters of the American Revolution, is a handbook that provided general information about the U.S. and guidance for immigrants settling in the nation at the time.
One notable passage from the 1921 Manual frames American citizenship as a privilege to be earned rather than an entitlement automatically granted:
American citizenship is too high an honor to be given away lightly to all who want to come. America welcomes you to her shores if you are sound and healthy in mind and body; if you are of good character, honest, thrifty, industrious, and moral; if you intend to make this country your home and to become a naturalized citizen. It is your duty to try to win the prize of American citizenship by learning true American ways of living.
Cunningham, on Wednesday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, pointed to another notable section of the 1921 Manual with regard to foreigners expecting governmental assistance upon immigrating to the U.S.
The 1921 Manual, under the section titled “Support for Children,” states:
It is the duty of every father and mother to support their children. If any person having the ability to do so, refuses to provide food, clothing, shelter, or necessary medical attention for his minor child, in most States he is guilty of a crime.
He can be placed in prison or forced to work to support such child. If a man is the father of a child by a woman to whom he is not married, he is required to support the child just the same.
Noting the 1921 Manual’s emphasis on self-reliance, Cunningham contrasted this with modern policies that, he says, encourage dependency on government programs, pointing specifically to the alleged fraud scandal currently unfolding in Minnesota largely involving Somali immigrants as an example.
To a report that 72 percent of Somali households in the U.S. are currently on government welfare, Cunningham said, “They obviously came here with the full expectation…to not be independent citizens, not that they would be contributors, but that they would be every of every one of their needs and wants would be satisfied me by hardworking American taxpayers.”
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
