There is no difference, and if you are arguing that people are not entitled to try to better themselves by leaving their homes and families behind to come and work in the United States because they cannot survive in their own home town, then shame on you, particularly if you are descended from Italian immigrants. Italians populated many other countries in the world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries because they were starving at home, and they wanted to make a better life. Good for them. The majority of them walked there, or worked passage on ships. Some people may have had passports, but the vast majority did not. The United States is one of the nations that is built on the back on immigrants of all races. It is shameful to close the doors now and deny others the chance. IMO. ______________________________> X-Message: #5 > Date: Wed, 31 May 2006 17:04:36 GMT > From: "The Wanderer" <rosieonmychest@nyc.rr.com> > To: GEN-ITALIAN-L@rootsweb.com > Message-ID: <E0kfg.3405$%h.412@news-wrt-01.rdc-nyc.rr.com> > Subject: Can anybody tell me? > > My great grand father came over from Italy in 1892 when Ellis Island was > brand new. Did he have to bring any papers with him in order to be > processed? I know the W.O.P. stories but were the immigrants required to > have any documentation? This came up in an argument about the illegal > immigrants here now i.e. "how were your people any different that the ones > coming now?" The only answer that I have is that my people came legally, > without knowing were they just let in or did they "formally" immigrate, with > documents etc.