ABSTRACT
Immigration is a central aspect of US history. It is a major reason that the nation’s total population grew to more than 313 million by 2012. Believing in the American dream, many tens of millions of people have come to live in the US. They thus changed their homelands, America and their family histories forever. They strengthened the nation’s commitment to “the dream” and to its ideal of being a refuge for the poor and oppressed, a nation of nations. Gradually, over the centuries of massive immigration and the struggles of newcomers and Americans to adjust to each other, the view that the nature of the nation was and should be a composite of many national backgrounds, races and cultures gained popular acceptance. This view continues to face the opposition of those who believe newcomers should leave their homeland cultures behind and the dilemma of deciding what is necessary to hold the country and its increasingly diverse population together.
