Coming to America.

• Position: Graph Exercise - Illustration

Illegal immigration is a hot topic today, in part because the United States is a country populated almost entirely by the descendants of legal and illegal immigrants. From the first English settlers who arrived in ships to those arriving by jet today, tens of millions of people from around the world have come to the New World--to America--in search of a new life. Since 1886, immigrants have answered the call of Emma Lazarus's poem at the base of the Statue of Liberty: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breath free."

These graphs show part of the story of immigration. In 1820, more than 8,000 immigrants came to America. With few exceptions, the numbers have been rising ever since. This data shows immigration broken down by decade, plus the years 2001 and 2002. Use the data to answer the questions below.

1. What is the approximate difference between the total number of immigrants in the decade 1901-1910 and the total number of immigrants in the decade 1921-1930? (a) 4.7 million (c) 3.7 million (b) 5.7 million (d) 4 million 2. In one of the decades shown on the graph, the world was gripped by a severe economic depression. In countries around the globe, including the U.S., tens of millions of people found themselves suddenly poor. During this decade, immigration fell by about 87 percent from the previous decade: Which decade was it? -- 3. In one decade, the total number of immigrants to the United States was two and one-half times that for the year 2002. Which decade? (a) 1941-1950 (c) 1971-1980 (b) 1961-1970 (d) 1951-1960 4. Suppose concerns about...