U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for August 3

WASHINGTON, Aug. 3, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

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SATURDAY, AUGUST 3: IMMIGRATION RESTRICTION

Profile America — Saturday, August 3rd.  "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."  Poet Emma Lazarus composed those words in 1883 to help raise funds for a pedestal for the Statue of Liberty. But on this date just a year earlier, Congress enacted the first immigration limitation in our history. The law barred entry to people thought likely to become what is called a "public charge," or burden on society. Immigration laws have been much revised since 1882 and remain a topic of much political contention to this day. But the U.S. has for some time accepted more immigrants than any other nation. Of the roughly 309 million residents counted in the 2010 Census of Population, nearly 40 million were foreign-born, and another 40 million were naturalized citizens, or noncitizen immigrants. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at www.census.gov.

Sources:  Kane's Famous First Facts, 5867
U.S. Census Bureau, The Foreign-Born Population in the United States: 2010
www.howtallisthestatueofliberty.org

Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotions of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Multimedia Gallery" by the "Newsroom" button). 

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau