So lets get into this...

[Guest]

@suncoastvike said:
Here a little piece of my family history.
Enlarged Homestead Act of 1909Edit(Because by the early 1900s much of the prime low-lying alluvial land along rivers had been homesteaded, the Enlarged Homestead Act was passed in 1909. To enable dryland farming, it increased the number of acres for a homestead to 320 acres (130 ha) given to farmers who accepted more marginal lands (especially in the Great Plains), which could not be easily irrigated.[14]
A massive influx of these new farmers, combined with inappropriate cultivation techniques and misunderstanding of the ecology, led to immense land erosion and eventually the Dust Bowl of the 1930s)


My great grandfather came to the US of A around 1916 with his wife and children. Including  my grandfather who was about 10 at the time. Eastern Europeans. He was asked what did you do in your country. Great granddad was an uneducated farmer,  more like a serf really. So they gave him land in North Dakota. They cut the sod built their house from it.  Really hard to believe still in the 1900s. Cleared the fields planted. Life was good till they lost it during the depression. The family then settled in Iowa where they served as uneducated factory and meat packing plant workers. Times have changed. So half my lineage can be traced back only a couple generations to when this was the land of opportunity for uneducated outsiders. Right place at the right time I guess. Oh there was hate back then to. They were called communist. What the haters didn't understand was the family risked everything, mostly their lives because that was about all they had, to escape the oncoming revolution and war ravaged poverty. Communist they were not.
I get it. We can't turn back time. We can't afford to be as open and generous as before. Doesn't mean we have to be dicks about it either. Yes there is a reason people still try to get here. Probably not alot different then my great grandfather. They will risk everything. The risk is greater now because we are accepting fewer, per capita. So yes some will risk doing it illegally. 
Just a little ramblings about how great it is to be an American. Happy 4th of July.

   B)

Your family's story is similar to both my grandparents stories. Both came from Eastern Europe between 1900-1912 and made it to North Dakota. I have several documents on both sides from when they came through Ellis Island. Even though they were only separated by about 20 miles my moms family left for California in the early 40's after the hard conditions of the 1930's. My dads side of the family made it through OK and stayed on their land until they sold it in the 1950's. My dad was able to buy some land about 7 miles South if where the homestead was after he came back from WWII.

[Guest]

@Purplemachine said:

@suncoastvike said:
Here a little piece of my family history.
Enlarged Homestead Act of 1909Edit(Because by the early 1900s much of the prime low-lying alluvial land along rivers had been homesteaded, the Enlarged Homestead Act was passed in 1909. To enable dryland farming, it increased the number of acres for a homestead to 320 acres (130 ha) given to farmers who accepted more marginal lands (especially in the Great Plains), which could not be easily irrigated.[14]
A massive influx of these new farmers, combined with inappropriate cultivation techniques and misunderstanding of the ecology, led to immense land erosion and eventually the Dust Bowl of the 1930s)


My great grandfather came to the US of A around 1916 with his wife and children. Including  my grandfather who was about 10 at the time. Eastern Europeans. He was asked what did you do in your country. Great granddad was an uneducated farmer,  more like a serf really. So they gave him land in North Dakota. They cut the sod built their house from it.  Really hard to believe still in the 1900s. Cleared the fields planted. Life was good till they lost it during the depression. The family then settled in Iowa where they served as uneducated factory and meat packing plant workers. Times have changed. So half my lineage can be traced back only a couple generations to when this was the land of opportunity for uneducated outsiders. Right place at the right time I guess. Oh there was hate back then to. They were called communist. What the haters didn't understand was the family risked everything, mostly their lives because that was about all they had, to escape the oncoming revolution and war ravaged poverty. Communist they were not.
I get it. We can't turn back time. We can't afford to be as open and generous as before. Doesn't mean we have to be dicks about it either. Yes there is a reason people still try to get here. Probably not alot different then my great grandfather. They will risk everything. The risk is greater now because we are accepting fewer, per capita. So yes some will risk doing it illegally. 
Just a little ramblings about how great it is to be an American. Happy 4th of July.

   B)

Your family's story is similar to both my grandparents stories. Both came from Eastern Europe between 1900-1912 and made it to North Dakota. I have several documents on both sides from when they came through Ellis Island. Even though they were only separated by about 20 miles my moms family left for California in the early 40's after the hard conditions of the 1930's. My dads side of the family made it through OK and stayed on their land until they sold it in the 1950's. My dad was able to buy some land about 7 miles South if where the homestead was after he came back from WWII.

I loved that grandpa. He was the only one I remember. He was simple and lived simple. But was always happy and easy going. However he was one stout tuff little guy. Forarms like Popeye from years of working meat packing. When I got into my teens his simple ways seemed corny. Then as I aged I appreciated it again. Circle of life.